The late Stuart Hooper first planted vines on his Bannockburn site in 1974. Almost 50 years later, the now legendary estate is steered by third-generation custodians, with vineyard manager Lucas Grigsby in his fourth decade on the job. With around 20 hectares under vine, chardonnay and pinot noir take the lead, supported by shiraz, riesling and sauvignon blanc, with small amounts of cabernet sauvignon and merlot also planted.
“The limestone influence of our site is perhaps the most defining element in our wines, which have an inherent savoury quality and mineral density across the range.”
“We are always working to stay true to the original vision and aspiration of Stuart Hooper, which was to emphasise quality above all else,” says Grigsby. “We are in constant pursuit of making honest wines that speak clearly of our climate, our conditions, and the patch of earth on which we farm. Every decision we make in the vineyard is ultimately about quality, enhancing soil and vine health, balance in the vine and fruit quality.”
There are few people that would be as familiar with Hooper’s vision as Grigsby, given his long tenure there. “I remember not long after starting at Bannockburn as a young vineyard manager going about my day, Stuart drove past in his car and wound down the window, leaning out from the front seat he told me to ‘always remember that you’re not a grape-grower, you’re a wine-grower.’ And that has stayed with me ever since.”
Grigsby has been there through the stewardship of winemaker Gary Farr – who was instrumental in establishing Bannockburn as a great name in Australian wine – and Michael Glover, and he now works alongside Matt Holmes. In that time, the viticulture has evolved from one leaning more on intervention and control to one that favours a natural balance.
“The clearest and most influential transition over the years is the movement away from the ‘bare earth policy’ of the 1980s. That involved killing off competing plant life and was more conventional at the time, to now promoting soil health and enhancing the overall biodiversity of our site by encouraging other forms of life – our approach nowadays is to work with nature rather than against it.”
“The clearest and most influential transition over the years is the movement away from the ‘bare earth policy’ of the 1980s,” Grigsby says. “That involved killing off competing plant life and was more conventional at the time, to now promoting soil health and enhancing the overall biodiversity of our site by encouraging other forms of life – our approach nowadays is to work with nature rather than against it.”
The close planted blocks are all certified organic (NASAA), with the remaining under organic practice and in conversion. “Going back many years, I learnt that a healthy living soil produces its own nutrients and doesn’t require additions, which at the time was a real ‘wow’ moment,” says Grigsby. “This in turn influenced my thought processes in becoming more stimulated, interested and ultimately convinced by organics and our pursuit of certification. But we don’t claim to be at the end of our experience. We are still learning with every new season, every day.”
That approach has seen the viticultural team engage in substantial trials of mulching (all grape cuttings are mulched on site, while spent grape skins, seeds and stems are added to their compost), employing different combinations of material, patterns of application and timing. “We determined that mulching every second row and leaving the alternate rows untilled and undisturbed offered optimal growing conditions,” Grigsby says. “Most notably the vigour and balance we attained in the vine led to a more balanced chemistry in the juice.”
Grigsby has also been reducing the area under vine, culling areas that are frost prone, to bring the vineyard into balance with the rainfall averages, making it more naturally sustainable and therefore not taxing the water table by using bore water for irrigation. Tanks have been installed to supplement their dam, which support all irrigation needs. Solar panels have been mounted on the winery to reduce dependence on the grid, and new energy-efficient equipment is also being adopted.
When searching for a vineyard site, Hooper’s passion for Burgundy was the driving force, leading him to a site about 25 kilometres out of Geelong in a cool area with a range of aspects and soil types. Those aspects see slopes facing north, south, east and west, with complex soil profiles ranging from dark volcanic clay to sandy loams, but underpinning all is the bedrock that no doubt would have excited Hooper given its kinship with Burgundy.
“The limestone influence of our site is perhaps the most defining element in our wines, which have an inherent savoury quality and mineral density across the range,” says Grigsby. “Our site is also generally cool, with a long ripening window, low average rainfall, and maritime influences, and while we do get warm summer days, the heat generally doesn’t penetrate for long periods of time. These factors all contribute to making our wines unique and recognisable as being Bannockburn.”
In 1984, Gary Farr (influenced by his time at Domaine Dujac) and Hooper decided to plant a dense block of pinot noir to mirror that of Cru Burgundy. The Serré planting didn’t quite match the 10,000 vines per hectare common in the Côte d’Or but at about 7,000 vines per hectare it was more than twice as dense as most Australian vineyards at the time, if not three times as dense. Grigsby believes they have the oldest close-planted vines in the country, and the experimentation with density and planting configurations extended to other blocks, yielding a great amount of diversity that layers up with those of aspect and soil.
That diversity is being expanded, too, with the impact of climate change bringing more of everything: frost, hail, heat and floods. “We are now considering row orientation and parcel selection for the future,” says Grigsby. “With our most recent pinot noir planting, we opted for a south-facing slope in preparation for warmer years. Thankfully we aren’t in a flood zone and our drainage and spillway set up is very efficient, but we are in a very low rainfall area and in drought years this can be problematic.”
With a very conscious approach to maintaining the water table, new plantings will be very limited, or will replace those less successful. However, the substantial non-vineyard land is being revegetated. “We consistently plant trees and shrubs native to this area across the property,” says Grigsby. “My attention has been focused on the gully and ravine areas, which make up part of the natural water course to ensure we are stimulating native flora and fauna. We also have bees and beehives on the property, and we are always looking for new ways to contribute to the long-term health of our patch of earth.”
That emphasis on sustainability is a critical one at Bannockburn, with Grigsby’s eye on the distant future. “We are coming up to 50 years of Bannockburn Vineyards, so our process is looking forward to the next 50 years,” he says. “This relates to organics, making composts with the stalks and skins, mulching vine cuttings, water management, and being self-sustainable overall. We also only employ people from our local community rather than using travelling workforce crews, in return we have a very loyal and long serving team of full-time and casual staff.”
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