The Vineyard
The Vineyard
We have 19 acres (7.5 hectares) under vine across three vineyards. There is a very small one-acre vineyard in the middle of Eltham (near the Butterfly farm) and two large vineyards located in Arthurs Creek and Strathewen respectively.
Our vineyards and those of a number of our neighbours are managed by Apteds Farm Service.
The vineyard seasons include:
In Spring we see “bud-burst” when the new green leaves appear and start to unfurl. As the vines grow, we lift the straining wires to hold up the new leaf growth and expose the fruit to the sun.
In Summer there is rapid growth of the leaves and development of the fruit until “veraison” (ripeness of the fruit) is reached in late Summer and it is time to harvest. The fruit from all three vineyards is brought back to the Shaws Road winery site for processing (crushing, pressing, fermenting etc).
In Autumn is when the harvest is finally over and the all the equipment is packed away for another year, the leaves turn golden and are finally swept away by the Autumn winds
In Winter the bare vines are pruned (we cane-prune the vines, which means pruning all but two longs cane which are then tied down on either side of the vine to straining wires).