The Australian viticultural landscape is changing rapidly as wine producers and grapegrowers look to the future beyond the current wine industry troubles.
One of the biggest vineyards in the Adelaide Hills is located on a rolling hill on Junction Road between Balhannah and Littlehampton.
The vines are coming out at a rapid rate – thirty hectares in total – completely changing the landscape.
The Lane – which changed ownership 12 months ago – bought the neighbouring vineyard in May this year.
“Unfortunately the vineyard was in pretty bad shape and it was planted in narrow rows, which was really inefficient so we made the decision to rip it all out and start again,” CEO Jared Stringer says.
“We will sow pastures, graze sheep and rejuvenate the soils over the next few years with a view to replanting it in the future when the time is right.”
The Lane also bought the vineyard owned by Australian Vintage Limited across the road from winery – off Paech Brother’s Road.
They have been ripping out all the eutypa-affected blocks that were unproductive including Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Shiraz.
“These blocks will be grazed and rejuvenated before replanting in the future,” Jarred says.
“Some new plantings have already gone in – about five hectares – with another 10 hectares to go.
“And because I didn’t have enough on my plate, we have just pulled out three hectares of eutypa-affected Sauvignon Blanc vines on our home block (Ravenswood Lane) and will be replanting with a high density block of Chardonnay for our premium labels.
“Neighbouring blocks don’t come up for sale all that often, so it was a great opportunity to secure a larger footprint in one of the best grapegrowing districts in the Adelaide Hills.”
Wine Australia says that current sales of Australian wine on the domestic and export markets equate to around one billion litres, or approximately 1.4 million tonnes.
“This could probably be achieved with a total vineyard area of less than 100,000 hectares – about two-thirds of what we estimate our current supply base to be,” Wine Australia says.