Lake Cairn Curran Vineyard is located in the southern part of the
Bendigo
wine region of
Central Victoria, in the premium wine zone between Heathcote to the east and Avoca to the west. The vineyard is north facing and adjoins the banks of the Cairn Curran Reservoir in the hamlet of Welshman’s Reef, near Castlemaine, between Maldon and Newstead. Located on foothills of Mt Tarrengower, the geographical centre of
Victoria
, it has an altitude of 450 metres above sea level.
Our vines are hand worked with low yields to achieve concentrated fruit flavours. Wines are organically produced without artificial inputs. We use sustainable viticultural practices such as undervine mulch, sheep grazing and minimal irrigation. The Vineyard site is cooler than most of our Bendigo region neighbours, due to its high altitude and the moderating effect on temerates of the adjoining river and lake, suiting the cool climate varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot and expressed in savoury shiraz characters.
The climate is cooler at the vineyard site than most in the
Bendigo
region due to the temperature moderating effects of the reservoir water body and the high altitude. This cooler microclimate is favourable for grape growing (aside from the occasional severe spring frosts which test our commitment, particularly the 2006 frosts which were unkind across much of Victoria). Generally cold night winters, spring rains (not that we have had many in 2007!), hot dry summers and long autumns allow intense flavours to develop with physiological berry ripeness. The dry climate also assists our sustainable farming aims–low disease incidence normally only requires minimal organic sulphur and copper sprays. We do not use any artificial pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers and aim to continually improve soil nutrition and structure and encourage biodiversity.
We adopt the philosophy that wine quality is determined in the vineyard (whilst appreciating the role of our winemakers in making great wine from great grapes!).
The vines are trellised using Vertical Shoot positioning and hand pruned by a combination of spur and cane pruning. We aim for low yields for quality. The vines are netted from birds at verasion, when berry colour and sugars develop. We promote the local birdlife by retaining surrounding bush and by ongoing native plantings to help discourage incoming pest birds, such as ravens and starlings.
