NEWSLETTERS | Classic Clippings

December 1986

THE GOOD EARTH

How long have you been here? is becoming the most common question to arise from visitors at the winery. The general reply of vineyard started in 1974, and first commercial vintage in 1980, seems to suffice.

Very few ask why we are here, which is fortunate, because it is harder to answer.

It all started with an increasing interest in wine in the early 1970s, a few dollars to spend, and a yearning to get out into the country. Clare produced some good wines, the country was some of the most attractive to be found, and it was not too far out of the city; these were the broad criteria for selecting the region for our venture.

How to select a good vineyard site. A check with an old (agronomist) friend produced a swag of literature on soil types and a few other helpful hints. He also threw in a small soil-sampling auger.

The local land agent was most helpful, with lots of lovely vineyards and plots for sale around Clare (a recently familiar story), and not concerned by my request to dig holes in them all. The first block was surely one of the best in Clare - well the top inch or two may have been, but to sample any deeper would have required a stick of gelignite! We looked at one block, then another, reporting back to the land agent on our soil findings.

Whether it was our continually negative soil reports, maybe we had him bluffed by science, or perhaps it was the dismally wet day that had the agent despairing of ever making a sale, whereupon he bundled us into his car to see a block that wasn't even on the market.

It was the spring of 1973; the day was far too wet to even get out of the car. A week later the day was perfect, and ideal for a soil-sampling excursion; this time the soil profiles came out something like what the book said they should. The long-suffering land agent finally got to close the sale. That first purchase was 66 acres; in 1979 we purchased the adjoining section of 83 acres.

The last edition, with its photograph of Daniel and his trout catch, drew a protest from Samantha that she had been left out. OK Sam, your turn now; its a snap from 1975 that we found in the vineyard archives.