The soils were the reason for choosing this site. The Heathcote region sits on a narrow strip of Cambrian-era geology – metamorphic rock more than 550 million years old – and that strip is less than a kilometre wide across the Mount Camel Range. G.K.L.R. Vineyard sits on it. “I’m obviously biased,” says Kennedy, “but I think the G.K.L.R. Vineyard is one of the best vineyard sites in the Heathcote region. We’re situated on the Mount Camel Range with the famous red, Cambrian soils, we have an easterly aspect which means we’re spared from the worst of the afternoon summer sun, and we have very low frost risk up on the range.” Before a vine was planted, Kennedy commissioned electromagnetic surveys to map clay content and variability across the site, and conducted grid sampling to understand the soil profile at a granular level. Rootstocks were selected according to what the soil survey revealed – 80 per cent on Richter 110 for its drought tolerance and moderate vigour, 10 per cent on Paulsen, 10 per cent on own roots – and varieties were matched to specific areas based on soil depth, drainage and clay content. The top of the ridge is rocky, Cambrian-rich, well-drained and deep; the lower slopes carry more clay, retain more water and produce more vigorous vines. The two zones produce noticeably different fruit. “Wines produced from the top of our ridge are more structural, with more tannin and can easily be aged,” says Kennedy. “Down the bottom of the hill the soils have more clay and hold more water. So, the vines are more vigorous and produce softer, more generous wines, better drunk at a young age. The way wine can vary so wildly in the glass because of where it’s picked from in the vineyard is one of the reasons this job is so interesting.”
The variety choices reflect both the site’s character and a clear-eyed reading of where the climate is heading. Where Heathcote built its reputation on shiraz – and where neighbours like Tahbilk and Mitchelton remain its definitive regional expression – Kennedy looked south and east for his reference points: to the hot, arid growing regions of southern Italy that produce elegant, structured wines despite summer heat. Fiano, nero d’avola and sangiovese from Campania, Sicily and Tuscany; nebbiolo from Piedmont; and piederosso, a rare southern Italian variety grafted onto an existing shiraz block in 2025. “Heathcote has been known for its high-quality shiraz for decades, and rightly so,” he says. “But excitingly, thanks to some forward-thinking viticultural minds – thanks Chalmers Family! – we now know that Mediterranean varieties are growing extremely well in our soils and climate. The modern clones of fiano and sangiovese that we’ve been able to source have changed the game for Heathcote wines. They are much more drought-tolerant than French varieties.”
The sangiovese planting illustrates the depth of the thinking. Six clones are grown across three different blocks and soil types – Chalmers selections MAT 6 and MAT 7 for bright, lower-yielding fruit; older Australian clones MS1 and MS2 for abundant tannin and richness; and Brunello clones VCR23 and VCR3 for depth and earthy intensity. Each clone behaves differently in the vineyard and demands different management. What Kennedy has found, working with the fruit across multiple vintages, is that building the sangiovese canopy early – prior to flowering – produces the most balanced wine. To achieve that at the top of the ridge, where the rocky Cambrian soil dries out faster, compost and slashed midrow mulch are applied under-vine to retain moisture. “Since we’ve been doing this, we’ve seen more even ripening and the final wine is more balanced and consistent in flavour,” he says.
The precision extends across every aspect of management. Soil moisture probes throughout the vineyard measure conditions at 1.2 metres depth, informing the irrigation program and ensuring water is only applied when genuinely needed – a particular discipline given the site sits in the warm, dry summers of the Colbinabbin area. Tissue sampling is conducted three times per year and sent to a lab; nutrients are prescribed in response to what the tests show rather than applied as a blanket program. Satellite NDVI imagery is used to identify stress at the row level – when a thin-topsoil section was found to be defoliating early, targeted compost was applied and the problem was resolved. Pest and disease scouting is conducted weekly by a horticulturalist, with all spray passes recorded in AgWorld, a cloud-based program. The result is a spray program triggered by observed need rather than calendar prescription. “We practice precision viticulture to grow better quality fruit at the row level, not vineyard level,” Kennedy says.
Climate adaptation is also being built into the physical structure of the vineyard. The 2023 planting was oriented east-west rather than the north-south standard of the region – a deliberate decision to shield fruit from the harsh afternoon sun of Heathcote summers. During a recent three-day stretch above 40 degrees, Kennedy noted the difference between the two orientations was striking: east-west rows remained lush through the worst of the heat, with no sunburn. “The view from the top of our site is magical,” he says, “and the view stretches for tens of kilometres – but it also means we feel everything the sky sends.” Drought-tolerant rootstocks have reduced irrigation requirements throughout the vineyard’s establishment, building resilience for a future that is likely to be hotter and drier than the present.
G.K.L.R. Vineyard is, by any measure, still young – the oldest vines are seven years in the ground, and the vineyard is still taking shape with further blocks planned. But the foundations that have been laid – in the soil survey, the rootstock selection, the clonal diversity, the data-driven management and the variety choices – are the foundations of a vineyard built not for now but for the long term. “It’s important to us as growers,” Kennedy says of the sustainability philosophy, “but we also understand how important it is for winemakers buying from us. They want to be able to purchase fruit from growers who put sustainability at the core of their business.” That the winemakers who have found G.K.L.R. Vineyard are returning year after year suggests the fruit already speaks clearly of the place it comes from.
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