The entire farm consists of low potential vertical shale soils. 300 mm of topsoil, then a thin layer of clay and then the vertical shale. The preperaration of the soil is critical – a huge D9 bulldozer deep rips to a depth of 1.5 metres to break up the shale. Drainage trenches are then dug at the bottom of each block to drain all excess winter water away from the vines. All the nutrients and goodness which have been trapped in the soil for millions of years are now released. The water retention of shale soils is very low. In the growing season, after an irrigation of 25 mm, 5-6 days later the soil will be completely dry. This offers tremendous advantages for quality grapes in that we can only irrigate each block when we require growth. Our shale soils are “low potential” which helps to restrict the growth resulting in quality grapes. We never get more than 5 tons of grapes per hectare.
Please view growing grapes to discover how we grow our wine, and irrigation to see the importance of when to irrigate.