Glenbawn Estate
Aberdeen, NSW
| Area Under Vine | 215 acres |
|---|---|
| Varieties |
Semillon (51%) Chardonnay (40%) Traminer (6%) Trebbiano (3%) |
| Average Yield | 6 tonnes/acre |
| Soil Type | Sandy loam, Volcanic podsolic |
| Climate | Warm, continental |
| Rainfall | 620 mm average/annum |
| Aspect | The vineyard is relatively flat with some blocks facing west and some facing east |
| Irrigation | Drip irrigation from Hunter River |
| Primary Brands | Base wines for Glenbawn Estate, Moore’s Creek, Old Winery, Lost Block |
The climate at Glenbawn Estate is warm and continental. Winter receives frosty mornings to -20C with clear dry and sunny days to 180C. Summer is dominated by hot days with an average of 30-32C. February is usually humid with high rainfall possible.
The Tyrrell's Glenbawn Estate winery and vineyards are situated in the Upper Hunter Valley at the base of Glenbawn Dam on the Hunter River. Tyrrell's leased the property from 1979 and purchased it in 1988. The original vineyard was planted in the late 1960's. Since then, several additions have been made, bringing the total area to 240 acres.
Grapes from local growers, other Lower Hunter vineyards, and from Tyrrell’s McLaren Vale, Heathcote & Limestone Coast vineyards in South Australia are also processed at Glenbawn Estate, bringing the total tonnage to approximately 2,500 tonnes per year.
The Glenbawn Estate Winery is a high technology winery that requires minimum labour to run efficiently despite its large size. The winery has a storage capacity of 4.5 million litres. In order to ensure the quality of the wine a large refrigeration plant ensures all wines are kept at optimum temperatures from fermentation through to bottling. All bottling is carried out at the Pokolbin winery in the Lower Hunter Valley.
The vintage period at Glenbawn Estate runs from the end of January to the end of April. Machine harvesting is used for the Glenbawn vineyard, to take advantage of cooler night temperatures.
The vineyard has a full time staff of five and a casual crew of 6-10 during the winter pruning period and summer vine training season. The winery currently has four full time staff with up to 6 casuals during the vintage period.