Learn about vineyards
On the Mornington Peninsula, close-planted vineyards are like a super-maxis of the wine world. They’re expensive and complicated to sail but in ideal conditions, they effortlessly achieve line honours. Our private Mornington Peninsula wine tours find close-planted vineyards at Merricks Creek (est. 1998) Principia Wines (est. 2014) and Ten Minutes by Tractor (est. 2016), while a tour around Victoria finds the tell-tale short, stumpy trunks at Punch Vineyard in the Yarra Valley, Bass Phillip in Leongatha, Bindi Vineyard in Macedon and Bannockburn, the home to Australia’s oldest close-planted vines. Here, the Serré Vineyard (est. 1986), produces one of the nation’s most celebrated Pinot Noirs.
What happens in a close-planted vineyard
On the Peninsula, turning off the water in the vineyard plays a critical role in the quality of close-planted vines, as dry grown vines limit fruit yield and increase flavour. In the cool continental climate of Burgundy, Grand Cru sites - old vines in the famous Cote Dor vineyards - are capable of producing wines of great complexity. In the Mornington Peninsula’s cool maritime sites, close-planted vines are more disease prone but, as vines age the wines gain greater length and power. In younger sites a coastal climate present extra challenges. Dense foliage and tight bunches are prone to disease pressure like powdery and downy mildew intensified by ocean-borne humidity which also increases weed activity and vigour. Also, the back-breaking task of picking grapes along knee-high vines is a job few enjoy.
Mornington Peninsula Vineyards
Forever chasing the holy grail of Pinot Noir, the vast majority of Mornington Peninsula vignerons have trellised vineyards with Vertical Shoot Position (VSP) which provides significant advantages for shoot thinning, air-flow and spacing albeit in the most expensive agricultural land in Australia. However, a small number of, let’s call them, resistance farmers have opted for a more interesting post and wire configuration.
V-shaped Lyre trellissed vineyards, (pictured above) which straddle slopes in Main Ridge, Red Hill and Merricks are distinctive for producing wines with plenty of intensity and power. Across double-spaced rows, the airy canopy reduces disease pressure and leaf growth filters sunlight to ripen fruit slowly. At the vine’s base, the trunk is split close to the ground ensuring short arteries deliver nutrients to bunches closer to the source. Paringa Estate’s The Paringa, (est. 1989) and Stonier Wines’ KBS Vineyard (est. 1988) have produced the Lyre’s best results. The Paringa has won many trophies in Australia and internationally while the KBS is simply one of the best Chardonnay vineyards in Australia. When they mature, it will be interesting to see how the wines from close-planted vineyards compare to wines grown on the big V Lyre trellis.
The Close Planted Ten Minutes by Tractor Vineyard in Main Ridge will be declassified until the vines get properly established
