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vineyard, grapes & conditions |
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The majority of grapes are grown at our two vineyards: Preston Peak Vineyard south of Toowoomba and Devil's Elbow Vineyard at the southern end of the Granite Belt.
Grapes grown in the two vineyards include Chardonnay, Shiraz, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Grapes bought in are sourced from the New England Tableland, one hour south of the Devil's Elbow Vineyard and are only thin-skinned varieties such as Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. These varieties were grown at the Devil's Elbow Vineyard, but have now been grafted to Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
All grapes are sourced from vineyards above 1000 metres sea level. We have found that thicker-skinned varieties are more suited to the conditions of the two vineyards.
The Preston Peak Vineyard south of Toowoomba has rich basalt gravel soils, with well-drained gravels - a feature of the steep sloping Preston Peak property.
The Devil's Elbow Vineyard in the Granite Belt has deeper more gravely soil in the hills above the valley floor.
The Granite Belt and Toowoomba experiences heavy rain in February.
A few seasons in Toowoomba have been too wet for Shiraz, so we have grafted these vines to Chardonnay, which is generally more tolerant to rain, ripening before the heavy rains in most years. After February there is little chance of consistent rain for the remainder of the season.
In March the rainfall decreases to 60 mls, creating perfect conditions for our reds.
In the southern end of the Granite Belt (Devil's Elbow) the average rainfall in April through to May is 35 mls for each month. Autumn frosts are only a concern for the reds well into May, with gentle slopes preventing frost problems occurring in spring.
The growing conditions are comparatively mild compared to other regions in Australia, due to the high altitude of the vineyards. The heights of the vineyards above sea level are 640 metres at Preston Peak and 860 metres at Devil's Elbow. It is rare for either vineyard to experience a temperature above 35 C. On average the Devil's Elbow vineyard experiences only 15 days of 30 C per year.
Harvest begins at Preston Peak in February and in the Granite Belt in late February
(Sparkling base), early March for Chardonnay, mid to late March for Merlot, followed by Petit Verdot and Shiraz in early April and Cabernet in early to mid April.
- All grapes are hand pruned and picked and all vineyards are shoot positioned using the Smart Dyson system.
- Devil's Elbow is typically Granite Belt with small vineyard parcels established over the best soil drainage. For example there are three separate Shiraz and three separate Cabernet Sauvignon parcels, all ripening to display diverse characters and flavours at varying times.
- At the Granite Belt we have established true quality can only be achieved by exposing canopy to sunlight and very strict control of cropping levels of 5 tonnes per hectare for mature vineyards and 2 tonnes for young vines.
- The property sizes are one and a half hectares at Preston Peak and nine hectares at Devil's Elbow.
- The winery produces approximately 3500 cases per year.
- Preston Peak makes contract wine for several other wine labels in Queensland and NSW.
>> 2003 Vintage Report
>> 2004 Vintage Report
>> Vineyards & Winemaker
>> Vineyard Management & Production
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"Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine
has ever been granted by the gods to man."
Plato (427-346 BC)
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