The replanting

In 2003 the decision was taken to replant the entire farm. This decision was not taken lightly as some of the vineyards were in their fourth decade and still produced some wonderful fruit. However the general state of the vineyards was poor (they had spent almost a decade on little more than care and maintenance, so action was required). The opportunity this created was something we made sure not to miss. Much research was put into varietal selection to best match the terroir; rootstock selection to match the soils to the vine and therefore provide the appropriate growth profile for balance.

A combination of differing clones of the same varietal was taken into account to increase wine complexity. Row direction and vine spacing was used to fine tune the microclimate in the vineyard. Most of the vineyard utilises trellis, however some of our traditional Rhone varietals are grown as bush vines, that is, without trellis. Many alien trees that were both shadowing and competing for water were removed. The vineyards are now 66% red and 34% white, planted with a combination of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals.