The Vineyards

Neilson's Block

This 12 hectare vineyard was one of the original John Riddoch selections in Coonawarra and prior to the commencement of planting in 1975 was a dairy farm. The vineyard is largely planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a small area planted to Pinot Noir.

Consistently producing exemplary fruit, much of its production is generally earmarked for inclusion in the Ravenswood and Neilson's Block Merlot wines.

Extensive canopy renovation of the original 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon plantings was commenced in 2002.

Wilgha Vineyard

The 80 plus hectare Wilgha property was purchased by Ian and Wendy in 1987. The property featured established, dry grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vineyards with the Shiraz today forming the backbone of the Wilgha Shiraz. The vineyard was developed steadily with the bulk of the planting occurring in 1993 and 1994. The total area under vine is 45 hectares today.

The vineyard also features the "Italian Block" where varieties such as Sangiovese, Barbera and Nebbiolo have been trialled for their suitability in Coonawarra.

Red Ridge Vineyard

The Red Ridge vineyard is located near the town of Naracoorte in the GI of Wrattonbully, which is approximately 50kms north of the Coonawarra winery. The vineyard features similar soils to Coonawarra with shallow Terra Rossa over limestone. The climate is marginally warmer than Coonawarra, facilitating grapes to ripen on average 2 weeks earlier. Ian was adamant that the climate would be ideally suited to Shiraz and with this belief planted 20 hectares of this variety in 1998.

In 2000 a further 4 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and a hectare each of Tempranillo and Sangiovese were planted.

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