Overview
Since the planting of the first 5 hectares of vines in 1975, the Balnaves vineyards have grown steadily. The principal variety planted is Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for 70% of the area whilst the addition of Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Chardonnay make up the total vineyard area.
The vineyard is divided into small blocks of between one and two hectares, which take into account depth of soil, trellis design, vine clone and row direction. The quality of wine produced from these small blocks is evaluated each year and recorded. This practice proves the validity of the French concept of “terroir” or the effect that micro-climate; geological features and other factors have on the quality of the wine produced. Such effects are clearly seen in the Balnaves vineyard at Coonawarra.
South Australia has some of the oldest winegrape vines in the world. Your shoes and clothing can pick up and spread pests and diseases, including phylloxera. Please don’t walk amongst our vines. Help protect the vines that make our special wines. For more information about vineyard biosecurity visit www.vinehealth.com.au
Precision Viticulture
In the early nineties we made a decision to put more effort into improving the quality of the fruit in some of the non-performing areas within our Coonawarra vineyard.
Soils & Management
We have come out of a three-year period of using no roundup and no pre-emergent.(Chemicals that stop weeds from emerging)
This was for a couple of reasons.
Pruning
Balnaves prune about 550 hectares per year most of this is vineyard that we directly manage. We have a number of different mechanical pruners…
Frost Management
Balnaves have 16 frost control sites under management.
We have a private weather station network that we run as part of our commitment to managing these vineyards.
