The Honey Moon Vineyard has a northeast aspect and relatively high altitude 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 heat summation data, our site is a little cooler than Côte Rôtie and a little warmer than Burgundy.
The vineyard is close-planted and 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. By Australian standards the vineyard is small at 2 acres “post to post”.
Science and facts aside, the vineyard is actually a lovely space to be in – it has a calming and peaceful effect no matter how busy or stressed (eg about the weather!) one feels.
Plantings are just over half Pinot Noir and the balance Shiraz. The Pinot clones we have planted include 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.
The wines of Burgundy are a great passion of ours… as are the Rosés from the Southern Rhône, and Shiraz wines from the Northern Rhône, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie. Our Shiraz clones are also interesting as they have been chosen as “massale” [field] clonal selections from two old vineyards in South Australia that are known for their spicy Shiraz characters.
