Soils are an exceptionally important part of the vineyard equation with soil forming a vital part of the terroir of a vine. Terroir is the coming together of a number of factors that influence the vines, and thus the composition of the grape and finally the wine. These factors include soil, climate, aspect, rainfall, and microclimate to mention just a few. Some varietals are more terroir-expressive than others, meaning that the wine’s character is clearly influenced by their place of origin. This is particularly evident in Riesling and to a lesser extent Pinot Noir.
This image is a snapshot of the Farawell Pinot Noir block. Not all of our property looks like this, however it gives you a good idea of the composition of the majority of our soil. In fact, we have around three seams of soil traversing our property. For the most part our soils are what is known as Yellow Chromosols (see image), the rest of the property is made up of Grey Kandosols and Red Ferrosols.
Yellow Chromosols
The majority of our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is planted on Yellow Chromosols. As you can see there is 20 - 30 cm of top soil but this soon becomes a yellow, predominantly clay soil. This clay content is key to our watering regime as it reduces our need to water in the summer due to the soil’s natural ability to retain liquid. Conversely it can be hard to work with when water logged. We have seams of quartz running through this soil type, which is known to provide beneficial qualities to vine growing and wine quality.
Grey Kandosols
Our Riesling is the block most exposed to this type of soil. Generally Kandosols don’t hold water as well as the Chromosols, however they do have other qualities such as bound nutrients that the Chromosols do not seem to have in such great supply. This block needs a little more watering however the Riesling seems to live quite happily in it and produce a fantastic crop.
Soil Era
Most soils in Australia are amazingly old, and most soils in Australia need a lot of help as they have gone so long untouched…that being said it is what makes our wines so special and unique. Our vineyard’s soils are formed from sedimentary rock from the Lower Ordovician Period, which is 488.3 to 443.7 million years ago. During this era most of the tropics were entirely ocean and most of the world’s land masses were collected in a supercontinent called Gondwana. Our soils probably formed under heavy weathering during the tertiary era and are many millions of years old.
This image is a snapshot of the Farawell Pinot Noir block. Not all of our property looks like this, however it gives you a good idea of the composition of the majority of our soil. In fact, we have around three seams of soil traversing our property. For the most part our soils are what is known as Yellow Chromosols (see image), the rest of the property is made up of Grey Kandosols and Red Ferrosols.
Yellow Chromosols
The majority of our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is planted on Yellow Chromosols. As you can see there is 20 - 30 cm of top soil but this soon becomes a yellow, predominantly clay soil. This clay content is key to our watering regime as it reduces our need to water in the summer due to the soil’s natural ability to retain liquid. Conversely it can be hard to work with when water logged. We have seams of quartz running through this soil type, which is known to provide beneficial qualities to vine growing and wine quality.
Grey Kandosols
Our Riesling is the block most exposed to this type of soil. Generally Kandosols don’t hold water as well as the Chromosols, however they do have other qualities such as bound nutrients that the Chromosols do not seem to have in such great supply. This block needs a little more watering however the Riesling seems to live quite happily in it and produce a fantastic crop.
Soil Era
Most soils in Australia are amazingly old, and most soils in Australia need a lot of help as they have gone so long untouched…that being said it is what makes our wines so special and unique. Our vineyard’s soils are formed from sedimentary rock from the Lower Ordovician Period, which is 488.3 to 443.7 million years ago. During this era most of the tropics were entirely ocean and most of the world’s land masses were collected in a supercontinent called Gondwana. Our soils probably formed under heavy weathering during the tertiary era and are many millions of years old.