Ricca Terra – 171 Jury Road Vineyard, Riverland
The 171 Jury Road Vineyard entered the Ricca Terra stable in late 2020, and interestingly it is not built around the warm-climate Mediterranean varieties that Ashley Ratcliff has become famous for. Rather, it is a celebration of ‘heritage’ varieties that were largely planted by returned servicemen and women who were granted land when they returned from both World Wars. Out of step with the highly mechanised bulk wine production that the region has become synonymous with, the vineyards are seen as liabilities by most, but Ratcliff saw other possibilities and set about resurrecting the old vines with an eye to producing premium wines that honoured the history of their origin.