Lane's End Vineyard ...
was originally planted in the mid 1980's.
Located at 570 metres above sea level on the southern slopes of the Great Divide, the vineyard is perfectly suited for the growing of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
The micro climate of the vineyard is very protected with the Mt.William area virtually frost free due to its topography. The terroir is a mix of red cambrian volcanic soil and grey loamy granitic soils.
The vineyard is essentially non-irrigated as the root structures are now very substantial. The reason for this is to limit the yield of the vines and the size of the berries so as to maximize the intensity and complexity of our grapes. Low yields are essential for the production of premium wines. A maximum yield of two tonnes per acre in our Chardonnay and one to one & a half in our Pinot Noir goes toward achieving this.
Traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques are employed in making both our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir- more of this in our wines section. A very small amount of Cabernet Franc is also made. This wine is making a bit of a resurgence. Often used as a softening wine in Cabernet blends, we think it's too good to mix with others. It has similar characteristics to the Cabernet family, but much softer tannins which makes it more approachable to wine drinkers not caring for the harder tannins/finish in some other cabernets or for that matter shiraz .
Our philosophy is very simple-to produce the best possible fruit from our vineyard and with minimalist intervention turn these into the highest quality wine possible.
Selected multiple clones of each variety leads to increased complexity. This European approach is followed by Lane's End where there are four clones of Pinot Noir ( MV6,114,115 & D5V12 ) & three of Chardonnay. Our winemaking also follows a Burgundian approach in many ways so as to produce deep, concentrated complex wines that will also benefit from extended cellaring.
Climate
Besides the variety planted, climate would be the next factor that most affects the quality and style of the wine grapes. The Macedon Ranges Wine region is the coolest mainland region in Australia . Warmer wine regions produce bigger wines in alcohol and fruit forward flavours. However the wines produced in these regions tend to be quite uni-dimensional and very "in your face". Cooler climate wines are of a more elegant nature, balanced with a higher amount of natural acidity and finer tannins.
These characteristics are paramount with the varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The rainfall patterns of this area are also important with usually good spring rains but dry Autumn conditions which allow a long slow ripening with very low disease probability.
Temperature summation is another way of comparing wine regions. Basically it is a means measured temperature during the growing season. The Macedon Ranges temp. summation is around 1050-1100 which is very close to the Champagne and Burgundy areas in France, hence our preferential status as a sparkling wine and Chardonnay/Pinot Noir producers.