Heathcote
Heathcote, VIC
| Area Under Vine | 65 acres |
|---|---|
| Grape Varieties |
Shiraz (99%) Malbec (1%) |
| Average Yield | 3 - 4 tonnes/acre |
| Soil Type | Red clay, Cambrian deep soil |
| Climate | Continental, hot summers (cool nights), cool winters |
| Yearly Rainfall | 450mm (mainly winter rainfall) |
| Irrigation | Drip Irrigation, Channel Water & bore water |
| Primary Brands | Rufus Stone |
The Heathcote Region in Central Victoria varies considerably from the shallower less productive soils to the south near the township of Heathcote to the deeper productive soil in the north. The deeper Cambrian soil geologists inform are around 100 million years old runs either side of the Mount Camel Range.
Our Heathcote Vineyard sits in this deep and ancient soil that give it a unique ability to produce extraordinary wines of unimaginable depth of colour. Tyrrell's Heathcote was put to vine in 1994 with its first plantings and fully planted out in 1997 with its first release in the same year. The vineyard is high enough on the eastern slope of the Mt Camel range to be out of the frost zone and protection from the hot sun in the late afternoon. The mainly fine weather during the growing season makes this vineyard a vineyard growers dream with a very clean pick with fruit of a high quality.
It’s because of these factors that much interest has been focused on this region with many new vineyard operators coming into the area all the time. It has become an area of Logging for Iron Bark to Gold Mining and Sheep Grazing and cropping to one of the Golden regions in the wine industry.
The grapes from our vineyard are picked and transported to Tyrrell's Upper Hunter Valley Winery where they are crushed and fermented out for Barrel maturation.