Honey Moon Vineyard is a small, vibrant, vineyard situated in the high ridges of Echunga in the Adelaide Hills, ten minutes’ drive from either Hahndorf or Mount Barker.
The Peramangk people are the original inhabitants of the Mount Lofty Ranges. We gladly acknowledge and pay respect to the Peramangk people, and recognise their ongoing connection with the land.
Looking back, we can still clearly recall our first walk around the land that has since become the home of Honey Moon Vineyard. It was love at first sight … rolling sun-lit hills, majestic gumtrees, lots of native birds, plenty of fresh water, a unique stone cottage and sufficient elevation to ensure a cooler microclimate. Echunga – a hidden gem.
Why Honey Moon? Well … the moon is such a noticeable feature of the vineyard’s nightscape and the autumn moons, around harvest time, are particularly honeyed and enchanting. This was something we discovered after the vineyard was planted, much to our delight.
Hylton McLean is a winemaker, wine science researcher and wine educator of long experience (well over 20 years). He has held senior winemaking roles in a large global wine company and, before that, was a lecturer in Oenology at the University of Adelaide and Roseworthy Agricultural College for over 10 years. He continues to teach wine appreciation courses to the public as well as wine sensory studies to university students.
Jane had her first experience of an Adelaide Hills wine harvest in 2001, in Lenswood as a cellarhand (at the former Nepenthe, now Revenir winery), working with Peter Leske and his team. A great start for her vocation in wine.
She shares with Hylton a keen interest in the wines and vineyards of France, especially Champagne. In 2002 she was honored to win the Vin de Champagne award and was awarded the Diploma d’Honneur Corporation des Vignerons de Champagne (aka the St Vincent’s Award) in 2009. These days she still has a small involvement in wine education, with a focus on sparkling wine and Champagne.
The other members of the team are Miss Billie the boss – a petite silver-blue kelpie who is smart and affectionate but with big attitude, and (naughty) Mr Bertie – a black kelpie with tan markings who is very sweet and innocent, yet always up to mischief. They are hugely good for morale, comic relief and also for chasing birds out of the vineyard.
We aim to produce the best wines we can each year from our wonderful site, and to see them enjoyed as widely as possible.
Our Vineyard
The Honey Moon Vineyard has a northeast aspect and relatively high elavation for the region (420m to 410m above sea level).
Soils are mainly light brown alluvial loam over a deep layer of red ironstone clay. On long term temperature averages, our site is a little cooler than Côte Rôtie and a little warmer than Burgundy.
The vineyard is carefully managed to achieve modest yields from healthy vines supported by healthy soil. Pruning and harvesting are by hand so that the vines and grapes are treated as gently as possible. No herbicides are used. By Australian standards the vineyard is small at 3.0 acres “post to post”.
Science and facts aside, the vineyard is actually a lovely space to be in. The vines are rewarding to work with, and their annual growth cycle is something that is reliable and comforting in this fast-paced and ever-changing world.
Plantings are 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Shiraz. The Pinot clones planted are 777, 114, 115, MV6 and GM18. While these favour table wines, the 777 from the bottom of the vineyard is integral to our sparkling and Fancy Rosé wines. In contrast, our Shiraz plantings are not identifiable as specific clones as they arose from “massale selections”, whereby we took cuttings from two exceptional old South Australian vineyards known for producing spicy, refreshing and delicious premium wines.
