Viticulture and Winemaking
THE LAND Leeuwin Estate winery is located just south of the Margaret River township, virtually equidistant between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. The property lies almost at the tension point between the Southern and Indian Oceans. The atmospheric energy has a significant impact on growing season and tempers Margaret River’s Mediterranean climate. According to viticulturalist David Winstanley, the region receives most of its rainfall during winter, but intermittent spring rains, carried by frontal systems from the ocean, bring more moisture into the soils. By the time of flowering, in late spring, drier and sunnier weather conditions prevail. As the grapes ripen, warm summer conditions are moderated by cool onshore breezes. Significant heat spikes rarely occur because of this refrigerating effect. The vineyards are rarely, if ever, stressed, highlighting the unique location of Margaret River and the relative stability of the seasons. The Boodjidup Creek system, which flows west to the Indian Ocean, is the ‘major’ geomorphic feature in the development of the complex soil landscape of Leeuwin Estate. Over the last million years an ancient lateritic plateau has been carved and shaped by the Boodjidup Brook’s strong-flowing and meandering channels, especially in winter, to form the series of rolling hills and various slopes of the Leeuwin Vineyards. Conservation of the Boodjidup Creek is a key focus of the Estate’s sustainability management programme. The thick stands of giant karri (Eucalyptus diversicolour), marri (Corymbia calophylla) and peppermint (Agonis flexulosa) trees are an important feature of the Estate’s biodiversity, as are the rare freshwater fish that lie in their shadows during summer. The deeply weathered soils are derived from decomposed Precambrian granite gneiss and lateritic gravelly alluvium. The free-draining surface soils are typically red-brown gravelly sandy loam to sandy clay loams peppered with lateritic pisolites. Soil clay content increases further down the profile. At around 1.5–2 metres’ depth, the soils are predominantly red-brown medium clays. These are some of the finest soils anywhere in the world to grow wine grapevines. VINEYARD PLANTINGS Leeuwin Estate’s original vineyards, comprising mostly chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and riesling, were planted between 1975 and 1978. According to David Winstanley, these vineyards remain the backbone of the Art Series wines. New chardonnay blocks were established in 1996 and 1997, followed by more plantings in 2016, 2017 (East Hill Vineyard), 2019 (Henry’s Vineyard) and 2021 (Helicopter Hill and Airstrip West Vineyards). All of these sites, on low to mid slopes, were selected after extensive soil sampling. Vineyard planning is matched to the variations of
12 The Wine Journal – 2023
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