Our vineyard is located on the property at Bay of Shoals, just north of Kingscote, Kangaroo Island.
In 1992 we put in a nursery bed of cuttings and the resultant rootlings were planted in 1993. Our first harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon was in 1998, Chardonnay followed in 1999, Shiraz in 2000, Riesling in 2001 and Sauvignon Blanc in 2004.
More recently we have planted Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Savagnin which were harvested for the first time in 2012.
The majority of our vines are now on rootstock to improve drought resistance, saline tolerance and provide us protection against phylloxera.
We have doubled the density of our plantings to reflect the European style, planting the vines one metre apart, with the expectation that this will result in greater consistency and quality of the wines. The climate is Mediterranean, modified by our coastal location, giving a true maritime environment which leads to a slower ripening period with enhanced flavours and protects against extremes of temperature. To date, we have never experienced a frost.
Our beach block Shiraz cuttings were taken from Penfolds Magill Estate vineyard and were sailed to the Island in Enchantress into the teeth of a sou’westerly gale.
Our Riesling vines are 30m from waters-edge and thought to be the closest to the sea in the Southern Hemisphere.
