Lusatia Park was established in 1985, with nine further plantings spanning 1990 through to 2017. The vineyard spans 18.7 hectares, planted predominantly to chardonnay and pinot noir, with smaller holdings of pinot meunier, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc. Field grafting in recent years has expanded the clonal diversity, with pinot noir (667 and Abel clones) and pinot meunier enhancing the red varieties. North-facing at 230 metres above sea level, Lusatia Park sits on volcanic basalt with iron-rich soils above – ranging from a thin dusting to depths of over 10 metres.
“Lusatia Park Vineyard is located in what locals call the Upper Yarra, which is climatically different to the Lower Yarra,” says Sutherland. “It typically has more of a maritime climate with more wind, higher minimums and lower maximums … The biggest determinant this cooling has on the viticulture is at flowering. These conditions reduce fruit set, which lowers bunch size and creates a vine with excess capacity to develop complex flavours at the optimum Baumé.” He adds, “The volcanic soil, cooler temperatures and vine balance produce some of the best chardonnay and pinot noir grapes in the Yarra Valley.”
Sutherland’s approach to managing the vineyard is practical, rooted in soil structure and biological health. “The most important factor in soil health is maintaining the physical characteristics of the soil,” he says. “Minimising compaction and enhancing porosity can then lead to micro-organism growth, which leads to macro-organism growth. Without soft soil, no amount of compost tea or prep 500 or bags of urea is going to help your vineyard.” His soil management program can be distilled to a seven-word mantra: “Feed the organisms to feed the vines.”
Water is carefully managed here to prevent vine stress, while all pest and disease programs are precision-tailored to limit impacts to organisms that aren’t in the crosshairs. “We use chemicals to control targeted pests and diseases with minimal impact to the surrounding ecosystem, within the advised AWRI ‘Dog Book’ parameters.” This includes what Sutherland calls “Judicious use of sulphur and copper to prevent widespread damage to the soil and insects.” Fertilisers are all-natural: “We only use fish, kelp and fulvic acid to feed the organisms and the vines.”
Sustainability here is embedded in every decision: “My sustainability philosophy is about protecting and improving soil structure, feeding the biology, not the plant, reducing waste, especially with vineyard infrastructure such as posts, wire and dripper, maintaining viable ecosystems by minimal use of off-target spray applications such as sulphur and copper, adjusting plans and programs to fit the season,” he says. In short: “Doing only what’s required to achieve sound, fit-for-use grapes.” The results of that work are evident: “Yield is more consistent, costs have been reduced and quality has improved,” he says. “This makes the vineyard viable into the future.”
Sutherland doesn’t mind deploying a bit of gadgetry in the name of chasing his quality goal. “All vines are cane pruned using the KLIMA technology,” he says – referring to a tractor-mounted automatic pruning system that speeds up this laborious process and slashes labour costs. “This reduces trunk disease, yield variation and shoot thinning costs. It also allows for optimising the number of buds left to meet yield and intended use of the grapes.” This automation and efficiency stops where it would impact fruit quality: “All fruit is hand picked.”
Other innovations include the first-in-the-ground planting of virus-free Yarra Valley epigenetic clones of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and pinot noir. This is, he feels, “groundbreaking for the region as it continues to deal with phylloxera and in general vine improvement of the breed as well.” He’s a big proponent of the importance of good genetic material. “Vine material is the most important determinant of wine quality,” he says. “Viticulturists and winemakers come and go; the vines stay the same. I’ve seen good sites planted with poor vine material that never achieve greatness, and okay sites planted with good-track-record vine material very quickly get noticed in the winery as young vineyards making excellent wine.” While this may hold true everywhere, it’s especially pertinent in the Yarra Valley. “The best vine material for our Yarra vineyards has either arrived in Australia in the 19th century or the 21st century,” he says. “What is exciting is the use of genome sequencing to unravel the history of some of the earlier vine importations.”
It’s a region he clearly loves: “The Upper Yarra’s maritime edge – wind, higher minimums, lower maximums – sets it apart,” he says. “Volcanic soils, cooler temps, and balance make chardonnay and pinot noir sing.” He’s bullish about the possibilities here: “The Yarra would make fuller, rounder versions of chardonnay and pinot noir than other cool regions of Australia with these varieties. And lighter, softer versions of syrah and cabernet sauvignon than other warmer regions of Australia.”
Lusatia Park’s fruit underpins wines for De Bortoli’s Lusatia and PHI ranges, and is also sold to winemakers including Timo Mayer, Giant Steps, Mac Forbes and Patrick Sullivan. Sullivan’s approach to ensuring fruit quality for these makers is three pronged: “Using the best vine material,” “matching the vine material to the site”, and “managing the vineyard to achieve the best outcome for the season.” It sounds easy in theory, but it’s a lot of hard work in practice. “This means controlling disease, restricting or applying water, adjusting yield,” he says. “Dappled light around the bunch zone is key,” he adds. “Decisions around leaf removal or vegetative retention help achieve the phenolic style we are after as well as the alignment of sugar and flavour ripeness.”
“We’ve been making wine from this site for so long that we don’t mess with the viticulture too much,” says Sutherland. “It’s about achieving vine balance between yield and canopy in any given season – this helps the season dictate how the vineyard reveals itself in the glass.”
Climate change has already made its mark as those seasons get hotter. “We have noticed spring and early summer average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures have increased by approximately 0.4°C and rainfall has increased by an average of 10mm per month in that part of the growing season since 2008,” Sutherland says. “This has increased disease pressure even more for downy mildew.” Kaolin clay is now used as a sunscreen to reduce heat stress on the vines, and judicious leaf-plucking helps air move around the fruit zone, mitigating against mildew.
Sutherland is still looking ahead. “Plant gamay on the red soils similar to Mont Brouilly in Beaujolais,” he says, when asked what’s next for the vineyard. “In the longer term it could be planting the PIWI varieties that have been bred in Europe and are now being imported into Australia to reduce our fungicide use.” Not that he’s rushing in – any changes he makes will follow the campsite rule. “It’s about passing on my custodianship of the vineyard to the next custodian in better health than when I begun managing it,” he says.
Sutherland’s love for the vineyard is evident, and in a way he and the vineyard seem destined for each other. “My first visit to it was to look at what the manager at the time was doing with a Smart Dyson Canopy in the mid-1990s,” he says. “Then joining De Bortoli in 2005, we were taking fruit from this vineyard… ultimately with De Bortoli purchasing the property in 2016.”
“There is a good ‘vibe’ at this site,” he concludes. “Not sure I can put my finger on it, but it has a calming effect on my disposition, unlike any other vineyard I manage.”
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