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  • Weather

    17° C Clear sky
  • Time

    09:08 AM
  • Wine average?

    91 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    76
  • Region Ranking?

    22
  • Popularity ranking?

    234

History

Wirra Wirra Vineyards was originally established in 1894 by known South Australian eccentric and cricketer Robert Strangways Wigley. The winery prospered in its early days, producing many wines including a much acclaimed Shiraz, which was exported to England and the Empire until his death in 1926. The winery ran into disrepair and was eventually abandoned. In 1969 under the watchful eye of the late Greg Trott and his cousin Roger, the winery was rebuilt from the remnants of two walls and some slate fermenting tanks. As with all subsequent Trott endeavours, it was the sheer magnitude and unlikeliness of the project that made it so attractive.

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Vineyards

McLaren Vale is our home and where the majority of fruit is sourced for crafting Wirra Wirra’s famous red wines, but we also source premium white grapes from a select group of vineyards in the Adelaide Hills, a cooler climate grape growing region, to make an award winning sauvignon blanc, riesling and chardonnay.

Of Wirra Wirra’s owned vineyards, Scrubby Rise (ironically flat and bereft of scrub), Nocowie (named by Trott’s father who disliked cows), Chook Block (next to Trotty’s old Chicken Sheds), ‘73 Block (one guess only), Woodhenge and House Block contribute some of our best fruit year after year.

These blocks are managed biodynamically – a sustainable practice that we have followed now for nearly a decade. Our efforts were recognised in 2013 when we received biodynamic certification from the NASAA group – the Australian and International Organic Certifier. http://www.nasaa.com.au/

No chemicals or pesticides are used in the cultivation of our vineyards – only organic and biodynamic preparations.

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Winemaking

When you speak with Smithy, Tom and Kelly about their winemaking philosophy, there is a continuing theme of ‘letting the fruit shine’. They want our wines to look bright and lively in the glass and reflect the site or vineyard that spawned them. The fruit source is paramount, whether it is from the old vines on our estate, or from our loyal band of growers across McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. That’s why Smithy spends so much time in the vineyards. At the height of vintage, he is out and about all day walking between the rows, tasting fruit and talking with growers to time the harvest to the minute.

When the fruit is in, wines such as The 12th Man Chardonnay give the team a chance to flex their winemaking muscle, while others like The Lost Watch Riesling will be best left to their own devices. The only certainty is that when it comes to Church Block, everyone feels the weight of expectation to “get it right”*.

 

 

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Inside information

McLaren Vale’s favourable climate and geographical factors make it ideal for grape growing and producing regionally distinctive wines year after year. We enjoy a typical Mediterranean climate with the moderating influence of the sea tempering the summer heat and the cold of winter. The climate is characterised by warm summers, moderate winters, winter-dominant rainfall (580-700mm per annum), low relative humidity and relatively high evaporation. Rain during the harvest period and frost are rare. For the viticulturist this means less likelihood of crop damage and low disease pressure.

McLaren Vale has numerous micro-climates within the region, determined by variation in altitude and soil type associated with the various geological formations. This variation provides scope for the winemakers of the region to produce wines of varied and distinctive character.

Rainfall is sufficient in some areas to allow dry growing, resulting in increased fruit flavour intensity.

Where irrigation is used, drip irrigation is favoured. There are sufficient sources of good quality underground water and irrigation dams to maintain vine growth, with McLaren Vale considered one of the most efficient regions for water usage in Australia.

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10 different wines with 23 vintages

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