Victoria Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Young Gun of Wine

Lethbridge, Geelong

For almost a decade, Ray Nadeson and Maree Collis juggled the demands of establishing and running a vineyard and caring for a young family, while also maintaining careers as research scientists – both have PhDs, in medicine and chemistry respectively. In 2003, Lethbridge became their permanent home and focus, with a vineyard-first approach driving them to implement biodynamic principles (not certified) and pursue soil health through a proactive evolution of their methods to evolve their practices to suit their site. All the wines are made onsite by Nadeson, with the home vineyard the source of all their Estate, Single Block and Reserve wines.

Lake Moodemere Vineyard, Rutherglen

Lake Moodemere Estate is planted to red soils on an ancient riverbed of the Murray in Victoria’s historic Rutherglen region. The site has been in the Chambers family for five generations, with the first vines planted in the 1800s – though they did not see the next century due to phylloxera. A long history of focusing on sustainability has been enhanced as the years go by, with a symbiotic relationship with their mixed farming and vineyard operations of mutual benefit. The property abuts the Moodemere Reserve, with dense bushland providing a rich habitat for beneficial insects and native wildlife, which in league with their sustainable practices (including cover crops that were first implemented in the 1970s) eliminated insecticide use 40 years ago. The fruit goes to making estate wines – sparkling, table and fortified – which are made onsite and served in their lakeside restaurant, which is supplied by their farm, using everything from wheat to lamb, vegetables, fruit and honey. Joel Chambers is the vineyard manager.

Cobaw Ridge, Macedon Ranges

Perched high in the granitic cool of Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, Cobaw Ridge is a certified biodynamic vineyard specialising in varietal bottlings of chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah and lagrein, as well as a syrah rosé that is often touted as one of the best in the land. Alan Cooper has always farmed sympathetically, but it is since the conversion to organics, then biodynamics that he believes the vine resilience, fruit quality, depth of flavour and expression of site has dramatically improved.

Wilimee, Macedon Ranges

Wilimee is one of the oldest vineyards in the Macedon Ranges, originally planted in the early 1980s to pinot noir and chardonnay. A cool site at around 600 metres, sparkling wine production was a cornerstone for over two decades, before hard times stopped operations. In 2013, Ben Ranken and Sally Richardson bought the ramshackle vineyard and set about resurrecting it through regenerative agricultural practices. While the Wilimee brand has expanded, Ranken still cultivates much of the site to sell grapes to some of the region’s most respected makers, including Matt Harrop and Joshua Cooper.

Thousand Candles, Yarra Valley

The Yarra Valley’s Thousand Candles – which was launched to much fanfare in the 2011 vintage – has settled into a long stride, with the benefits of a decade under the biological farming methods of Stuart Proud returning big dividends. The business is built on making their own wines as much as it is selling ultra-premium fruit to renowned local makers, including Levantine Hill, Coldstream Hills and Santolin. While the wine on launch was firmly pitched at the top end of the market, the focus for Proud, who both grows – alongside vineyard manager David Ammerlaan – and now makes, is to reflect fruit and vines in an unadorned, hype-free way, a reflection of place and the season.

The Wine Farm, Gippsland

It’s all in the name really. The Wine Farm in Koonwarra, South Gippsland, is a vineyard-centric operation, where Neil and Anna Hawkins lovingly tend their 3 hectares of vines according to Demeter biodynamic methods (in conversion). Making varietal wines from pinot noir, shiraz, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and gewürztraminer, as well as a rosé and pét-nat, the style is lithe and mineral forward, with a mission to reflect the land and how it’s farmed in the glass – a feature that is becoming ever clearer as the years pass.

Tellurian, Heathcote

Ian Hopkins was drawn to Heathcote by a love for the style of shiraz that was being wrought there from the ancient Cambrian soils. A piece of red dirt on the Mount Camel Range was acquired, and the first vines – shiraz, of course – for his own venture were planted in 2002. That vineyard has now expanded to around 30 hectares, with drought-tolerant varieties like nero d’avola, fiano and carignan, and Rhône stars like grenache and mourvèdre, joining the roster, with some planted at high density and others as bush vines. Tobias Ansted holds both the winemaking and viticulture reins, with the farming certified organic but forever being pushed to exceed those standards.

Sorrenberg, Beechworth

Barry and Jan Morey’s Sorrenberg, in an elevated cool site in Beechworth, is somewhat of a Victorian legend, a family enterprise with a low-key attitude that has steadily seen their wines attain cult-like status, rubbing shoulders with some of their more ostensibly glamorous neighbours. It may be the quality of the wines that has built their reputation – one of the region’s finest chardonnays, arguably Australia’s best gamay, an equally esteemed sauvignon blanc and semillon blend, and an exemplary cabernet blend – but behind the label, the impeccable biodynamic farming and focus on addressing local and global environmental issues deserves just as much attention.

Lethbridge, Geelong Ray Nadeson