Blue Pyrenees Estate is one of the vineyards that revived winemaking in Victoria – the second to be re-established in the state after phylloxera had all but eliminated the industry in the early twentieth century, and among the first in the modern era to make a serious case for cool-climate viticulture. First planted in 1963 near Avoca, the 147-hectare property at the eastern edge of the Pyrenees Ranges spans 55 individual blocks across elevations from 260 to 330 metres, growing 15 varieties including shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, nebbiolo, viognier, malbec, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. The oldest vines still in production date to 1971. The average vine age is 39 years. Today under 100 per cent Australian ownership following the Richmond-Smith family’s acquisition in 2019, the estate is managed by viticulturist Scott Gerrard, who oversees not only Blue Pyrenees but the sister vineyards of Glenlofty and Decameron – a combined holding of 270 hectares currently transitioning to organic management. The Blue Pyrenees range spans from entry-level varietal wines through to the Richardson Reserve Shiraz and Richardson Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($160), the estate’s flagship expressions.
The origins of the vineyard are inseparable from one of the more unlikely stories in Australian wine. Rémy Martin, the Cognac house that would later acquire Champagne houses Krug and Piper Heidsieck, had been distributing its brandy in Australia through Melbourne wine merchants Nathan and Wyeth. When World War II broke out and French supplies were disrupted, Nathan and Wyeth substituted Australian brandy under the Rémy label to keep distribution alive. At the war’s end, they forwarded a substantial royalty cheque to a surprised Rémy Martin – a gesture that cemented the relationship. In the late 1950s, that relationship evolved into a proposal: rather than importing brandy from France, why not produce it in Australia? The search for a suitable site sought somewhere cooler, somewhere with a climate more like Cognac itself. The Pyrenees Ranges of central Victoria fit the criteria. On 1 June 1963, forest clearing and planting commenced on a property near Avoca, with an official ceremony attended by Victorian government ministers and the Avoca Shire President. The first vines were doradillo and trebbiano for brandy; shiraz and the estate’s now-famous Bordeaux and Rhône varieties followed as winemaker John Robb began exploring the site’s potential. The estate operated as Château Rémy until 1982, when it was renamed Blue Pyrenees Estate to reflect its location and its expanding identity as a table and sparkling wine producer.
The site Rémy Martin chose has proven itself across six decades. Elevations of 260 to 330 metres, combined with the cold air drainage that slides down the slopes at night, create a moderated climate: warm enough for concentration and depth in the reds, cool enough to preserve natural acidity, perfume and structure in both whites and sparkling base fruit. Southerly winds from the Southern Ocean provide additional buffering through the growing season. The geology is as varied as the topography: valley floor sites carry gravelly sands over clay, well suited to the Bordeaux and Rhône varieties that produce wines of depth, structure and savoury tannin; elevated slopes have quartz- and sandstone-derived soils that are freer draining and contribute brightness, fine tannins and linear acidity – the character that makes chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier from the upper blocks such valuable sparkling base material. Around half the vineyard’s production is dedicated to sparkling and white wine, a legacy of the site’s French origins and a reflection of what the cooler, elevated blocks naturally produce.
“The thought of poisoning soil to kill weeds doesn’t sit well with me and I have no interest in that style of agriculture.”
That diversity across 55 blocks is the engine of Blue Pyrenees’s complexity – and the operating principle of Gerrard’s management. “We have 13 varieties planted, 55 individual blocks over 150 hectares,” he says. “We keep blocks separated, understand topography and microclimates and have done many trials over the years.” Every block is managed individually, with hand pruning using cane and spur systems calibrated to vine age, variety and exposure. Harvest is block-specific, picking at optimal maturity parcel by parcel rather than sweeping across the vineyard on a single date. Some blocks are picked over multiple days with sections kept separate, allowing the winemaking team to blend earlier and later picks for complexity. “We are finding our earlier pick wines are looking great and fresh and a great component to the final blend,” Gerrard says. “We are creating complexities through picking times then vinification.” Ripeness is judged on acid and seed lignification alongside sugar – a marker of genuinely physiological maturity rather than baumé alone.
The transition to organic management is the defining project of the current era at Blue Pyrenees. Gerrard manages the sister vineyards of Glenlofty (90 hectares) and Decameron (30 hectares), both certified organic, and Blue Pyrenees is following the same path. No synthetic herbicides are used; under-vine weed control is managed mechanically and by hand. Permanent ground cover is maintained year-round, with periodic mulching to increase organic matter and moisture retention. Irrigation is used sparingly, only to support vine health. The IPM approach to pest and disease management prioritises biodiversity and beneficial insect habitat. Approximately 50 per cent of the broader estate is retained as native vegetation and wildlife corridors. “The thought of poisoning soil to kill weeds doesn’t sit well with me and I have no interest in that style of agriculture,” Gerrard says. “I treat the sites as an interconnected living system.” The region’s dry summers help – low disease pressure means the vineyard needs far fewer spray passes than many Australian regions, making the path to organic management more tractable.
The clearest indicator of the vineyard’s ecological health is a central lake on the property that supports freshwater mussels and redfin. It is not an incidental feature. “I swim in the lake with my kids and am very conscious of chemical run-off or chemical residue,” Gerrard says. “We do not use glyphosate or any herbicides.” After 24 vintages across winemaking and viticulture, the lake still figures in his favourite story of working here: a morning after a late night with the team, stumbling down to the water, the birdlife extraordinary, the water bright. “I was there thinking how lucky I am and how special and unique this site is.”
The work Gerrard has focused on most closely – soil biology, soil pH, root pruning and water infiltration – reflects a particular insight that came to him while walking the vineyard. “It clicked that vines do not have a gut,” he says. “All metabolism is a product of soil health and soil biology, and the latent soil nutrition can only be accessed in a healthy and biologically active soil.” Working on pH and biology since that realisation has produced vines with greater resilience: they recover more quickly from frost and heat stress, have reduced irrigation dependency, and the yield trendline has stabilised and become more consistent. The oldest blocks – some without irrigation, surviving on deep roots in the fertile valley floor soils – continue to yield concentrated, complex fruit with minimal intervention. “Not pushing the vines too hard is key,” Gerrard says, “managing with quality and longevity as focus instead of yield.” With vines planted in 1971 still productive and in balance, that philosophy is demonstrably working.
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