Featured in Country Roads http://www.redbubble.com/groups/country-roads Group on 02/12/12

The Road to Freycinet Vineyard on Tasmania’s East Coast.

Geoff and Susan Bull first planted vines at this site in 1979. Geoff and Susan developed the site over the next two decades establishing a small winery and tasting area. Freycinet Vineyard won a number of national show awards during this time and the established reputation as one of Australia’s premier producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Since 1992, daughter Lindy Bull and partner Claudio Radenti have continued the family winemaking tradition.

The cool Tasmanian climate in combination with the unique vineyard site provide ideal conditions for fine, elegant yet powerful wines. Situated on the 42 degrees latitudinal line, the vineyard overlooks the spectacular Freycinet Peninsula and is approximately 100m above sea level and just 20km from the coast. The average annual rainfall is around 70mm (except in drought years).

The total size of the vineyard is 9 hectares.

Perched on some gentle slopes in a small sheltered valley, the original Vineyard site has sometimes been described as an amphitheatre and heat trap. This 4.0 Ha amiphitheatre site, comprising The Hill and The Paddock contains the origianl plantings which form the base of the Freycinet range of wines.

The amiphitheatre’s slopes provide enhanced sunlight interception and warmth as well as cold air drainage which eliminate menacing late spring frosts. It is not uncommon for the fruit to be harvested two to three weeks earlier than many other Tasmanian vineyards, due to the extra warmth of the site. This can be particularly beneficial, especially in the slightly cooler, wetter and lower sunshine seasons. The surrounding hills also protect against the prevailing westerly winds.

The north facing slope of the amphitheatre has brown dermosol soils over Jurassic dolerite (ie warm, shallow, stony and free draining with clay/loam texture) while the south facing slope that has black vertosol – ie: black, crackling alkaline clay with good water holding capacity.

“The combination of aspect, slope, soil and heat summation produces red grapes with unusual depth of colour and ripe flavours. One of Australia’s foremost producers of Pinot Noir, with a wholly enviable track record of consistency – rare in such a temperamental variety” – (James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion, 2010).

Panoramic Merge and subsequent cropping and resizing in PSE 9 of 12 shots taken with Pentax k-r on 15 January 2012.
Lens Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
ISO 200
50.0mm
0 EV
f/11
1/200 sec.
RAW
Hand held