Braemore was planted entirely to semillon in ’69 by Ken Bray, with vines going in on their own roots. The soil here is a deep, well-draining sandy loam, laid down by an ancient watercourse, which encourages the vines to plunge root systems deep into the earth. “The soils keep vigour in check,” Daniel Thomas says. “Smaller berries, concentrated flavour, balanced acidity – semillon loves it.” At 55 years of age, these weathered survivors still perform, their roots snaking far below to gather moisture and nutrients. That root development pays off in a region famous for its fickle weather: “They handle droughts and hot summers,” Bray notes. The site’s sandy alluvial soils and the age of the vines caught Thomas Wines’ eye by 2000. “We’d been sourcing semillon from Braemore every vintage since 2000,” Thomas says. The Thomases upped their tonnage yearly and developed a close relationship with owners Ken and Chris Bray. “We had an unwritten agreement that if ever Ken and Chris were considering selling the property, that they would give is first option,” Thomas notes – a handshake deal that came to fruition when the Thomases
purchased it in 2017.
Bray’s original planting was deliberate. The site was chosen not just for its soils but for its cooler microclimate within the humid, subtropical Hunter, with fresh breezes flowing down from the Brokenback Mountain Range and cooling fogs rolling in from the coast. North-south rows, spaced three meters apart with 1.2 meter vines, lean on steel trellises with a single fruiting wire and two lift wires. The Thomas team’s biggest viticultural change has been to the pruning regime, shifting from the original spur pruning to cane pruning by hand. “We went full cane pruning in 2020,” Thomas explains. “It’s pricier, but shapes the vines, dials [in] yields, lifts quality.” Careful canopy management reduces humidity in the fruiting zone and reduces disease pressure.
Sustainability runs through the operations here. The Thomases, working towards Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certification, mix the grape marc from their winery operations with fowl manure and woodchips for compost, and carefully monitor water usage. “Soil health drives it,” Bray says. Sorghum cover crops choke out weeds and feed the dirt, while a creek splitting the vineyard demands upkeep. “A clean creek means better biodiversity,” Thomas notes, pointing to lacewings eating vineyard pests. Newly established nursery rows on the site allow the Thomas team to propagate their own cuttings, reducing their dependence on external vine nurseries and maintaining the precious genetic legacy of Braemore’s old vines. “Previously we had Braemore cuttings planted out, which have since been transplanted into gaps throughout the vineyard,” Thomas says. “We’ve got 1,500 shiraz cuttings from Kiss Shiraz Vineyard,” Bray adds. “Next year, they’ll extend a block or start fresh. It’s about the long game.” When the team discovered that rogue chardonnay vines had crept into the vineyard, this nursery allowed them to graft it back to semillon using Braemore’s own genetical material in 2023. “Keeps the bloodline pure,” Thomas says.
Irrigation is minimal, drawn from the winegrower-led Pokolbin Irrigation District project, but the sand’s deep water storage means that it’s only used for emergencies. “It’s stress-proofing,” says Bray (who was one of the architects of the Pokolbin Irrigation District project). Soil moisture probes and a weather station (currently being upgraded to 4G) sharpen water use and spray timing. “We’re leaner on irrigation now,” Thomas says. “Vines stay strong.” Water management here is a careful balancing act between vine vigour and stress – too much vigour and flavour is diluted, too much stress and the grapes can develop what Bray diplomatically calls “less-than-desirable phenolics”. “Reducing irrigation keeps vigour right,” Bray adds. “No dilution, no harsh phenolics – just flavour.”
The viticultural care on-site comes through in the glass. “Cane pruning trimmed yields but boosted concentration,” Bray says. “It’s fruit-forward now, with tight structure and zip.” A soggy 2021 tested the team’s mettle. “We shoot-thinned late,” Thomas recounts. “Less canopy, more air – ripeness and acidity held through the wet. It proved we can pivot.” The care lavished on the health of those sandy loam soils is evident in the character of the fruit and resulting wines. “Cutting fertilizer dropped tropical notes,” Thomas recalls. “We’re back to classic, precise Braemore.” Every bunch is hand-picked and sorted with precision for exceptional fruit purity.
“Semillon from the Hunter Valley is second to none in the world of wine,” Thomas adds. “The combination of our relatively warm, humid climate and well-draining sandy loam soils allows us to produce semillon like nowhere else in the world. The grapes ripen early, at relatively low sugar levels, while retaining bright natural acidity. This gives us a fresh, vibrant, citrus-driven wine in its youth. What’s remarkable though, is its ability to age. Over time, Hunter semillon develops complex honey and freshly buttered toast characters without ever seeing oak, which is a hallmark of the region’s style. You won’t find that evolution or purity anywhere else.”
If Hunter semillon is peerless in the world of wine, then Braemore, is for the Thomases and Bray, peerless within the Hunter. “Compared to other semillon sites in the Valley, Braemore’s sands produce a semillon that is particularly pure and precise, with a distinctive lemon-lime freshness and tension that have become hallmarks of this vineyard,” Thomas says. “It’s purer here,” Bray says. “Lemon-lime snap, high-tension spine – that’s us.” Bray adds that the vineyard’s position near Brokenback Mountain range sharpens the site’s signature zip. “These natural features funnel cool breezes through the valley,” he says, “particularly during the warm summer months, helping maintain balanced vine physiology and grape acidity. Morning fogs often blanket the vineyard, providing essential moisture and shielding the grapes from searing harvest-time sun early in the day.” “Compared to other Valley sites, it’s cleaner, tenser,” Thomas says. “The ancient watercourse soils make it special.” Over time, Braemore’s wines keep their freshness even as they evolve into toasty richness in the bottle – a freshness that the Thomas Wine team lock in by exclusively using Stelvin closures rather than cork.
Given the notorious humidity and heat of the Hunter, it’s no surprise that weather is the team’s great foe. “It’s micro and macro – week-to-week, season-to-season,” Bray says. “Picking’s make-or-break.” Hot spells need shade; wet ones test their timing. Canopy work – eastern wires up, western down – shield developing fruit from sun and rain. “Climate’s pushing vintages earlier,” Thomas notes. “More heat – we counter with monitoring and airflow.” The adverse conditions breed camaraderie in the region’s growers. “We lean on mates like Tulloch and Tyrrell’s,” Thomas says. “Weekly chats – weather, pests, trials. It’s a tight community.” Next up: a five-year push to re-trellis the original 1969 plantings and trial new mixtures of cover crops beyond sorghum. “The old trellis is fading,” Bray says. “We’ll refresh it, boost soil life.”
Whatever the team does here, it’s guided by a sense of custodianship for the original vines. When the team made the decision to pull a 2.5 acre block of old-vine semillon in order to fully replant it, they selected the strongest of these survivors and transplanted them by hand to fill gaps in other old-vine blocks. “In the end, we managed to save and transplant 250 vines,” Thomas says with evident pride. “Despite not making a huge difference in tonnage, each vine represented a little bit of the past we were preserving, a nod to the work the old block had done and its contribution to the Braemore story … in true Braemore fashion every single transplanted vine survived and is still producing world-class semillon today.” Looking after those vines and crafting brilliant wine from their fruit is what keeps them going. “Every move in the vineyard hits the wine,” Thomas says. “That link’s the thrill.”
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