Ask any good viticulturist or vineyard manager where good quality wines are made, and they will tell you ‘in the vineyard’. At Wakefield, Ken Noak is responsible for the vineyard management, and Colin Hinze, viticulture. Between them and their teams, they watch over the Wakefield estate – an area which now extends to just under 750ha, with approximately 415ha currently under vine, however a planting program is currently well underway which will increase the area under vine to approximately 600ha.
The Taylor family were drawn to the Clare Valley nearly forty years ago, for the specific purpose of growing world class Cabernet Sauvignon, and therefore strongly believes in the winemaking philosophy of ‘terroir’ – the individual combination of soil, micro-climate and other geographical characteristics which combine to produce a unique, and site specific quality to wine.
This is none so important than with their flagship range of wines – St Andrews, whereby the site selection for individual parcels of fruit have been painstakingly matched, based on soil diversity, vine age among other aspects to produce the very best results.
About 60% of the vines are planted on our famous ‘terra-rossa’ soil; this tends to be on the hilly sides, while the remaining vines roll down into the Wakefield River Valley, which is has deep clay soils topped with rich loamy soil.
For a snapshot of where each variety lives, Colin Hinze, viticulturist takes us on a quick tour: “Terroir based site selection is hugely important here in the Clare Valley, where we’re fortunate enough to be able to work with diverse and interesting micro-climates. The site for our delicate St Andrews Riesling is east-facing and importantly – well sheltered, whereas the Shiraz vines are more gently west-facing; the Chardonnay which produces our finest results is from denuded red-brown soils at the top of an otherwise fairly fertile slope, and finally our famous Cabernet block basks in the sheltered warmth of the river flat but yields very shy bunches of tiny berries – only the finest of which end of in the flagship St Andrews Cabernet.”
Take a virtual tour of our vineyard with our interactive vineyard map.
A Year in a the life of a Vine
There’s rarely a dull moment in the vineyard, with crucial stages occurring throughout the year…
August/September
Budburst – spring and a crucial, and nerve racking time in the vineyard, after the vines have lay dormant during the winter months. As Ken Noak explains: “Budburst is when the vines start to awake for the new growing season, and is when we need to be at our most vigilant, because there is a high risk of disease at that time,” Ken says.
“We have a disease management program that varies slightly between the red grape varieties and the white varieties but both are designed to prevent an infestation of downy mildew, which could affect both the quality and quantity of grapes.”
October/November
Flowering - over the next few months the vineyard teams will be hoping for an even growing season, producing nice flowers and bunches. “It is a lovely time in the vineyards, which have a beautiful honey aroma about them as the vines flower,” says Ken. ”I love that smell, but visitors with hay fever should stay away from the vines at that time!” The critical time is when the fruit sets at the end of October or in early November depending on the variety. On average, each ‘bud’ produces about two bunches of grapes.
Late November/December
Fruit Set - by early December, the grapes should have grown to around pea size. If required, the vineyard team will also help ‘lift’ the vine canopy so that the shoots are arranged such that the leaves and fruit receive optimal sunlight interception.
Later in December while the vines are growing and the vine buds are initiating their fruit for the following vintage. The vineyard team cut cane samples randomly from vines in each block on the vineyard and analysis them to ascertain bud fruitfulness for the following harvest. This allows the vineyard team to prepare a pruning regime for after the fruit is harvested.
January
Veraison – this refers to the important stage of development when berries begin to ripen, soften and to gain colour, usually occurring in mid January.
February - April
Harvest (also referred to as Vintage) - occurs mid February and continues for about six weeks, however can vary dramatically depending on variety and weather conditions during ripening in the lead up to vintage. Under ‘normal’ climate conditions, these varieties would be harvested in the following order: Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Merlot and Riesling - followed by later ripening varieties planted, such as Shiraz and Cabernet.
May – September
Pruning – this painstaking activity occurs around the end of May and continues until around mid September (15 weeks). Carried out by a team of more than 70 people, following on from the work in December, the vines are tended by hand as they rest dormant, ensuring maximum potential fruit set for the following year – when the cycle starts all over again.
