Our vineyard site selection was driven by finding a ‘terroir’ similar to Champagne and our homeland in Burgundy, which are over 300km from the coast with cool, continental climates, and limestone-enriched, shallow alkaline soils.
To explore our terroir in greater detail, please click here
450million years ago, Rylstone was a coastline. Our vineyard is located on an ancient rich coral reef – similar to most of France’s wine regions on the ancient Paris Basin coastline. The result is an exceptionally pure layer of limestone near the surface, which over the millennia has enriched the shallow sandy-loam top soil making it alkaline.
Our vineyard location is 150km inland producing a continental climate with large intra-day temperature variation. A high elevation & poor heat retention from sandy-soils produce one of the coolest micro-climates in Australia, enabling extended grape ripening, balanced sugar & acidity, and enhanced skin development.
Our north-facing single-vineyard estate is planted with 53 hectares of vines (120,000 vines), producing c. 300 to 350 tonnes of grapes annually. Our main grape varietals are Semillon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Shiraz & Viognier.
Our winemaking is a blend of traditional French and contemporary Australian styles producing boutique wines that are elegant, vibrant, complex, food-friendly and capable of sustained bottle development over time. Our range includes Sparkling, Whites, Rosé, Red & Dessert wines
Like the French, we believe great wine is substantially made in the vineyard. We continue to undertake extensive research to truly understand our terroir. Why is this important? The vineyard management practices and clone selection required for our ultra-cool climate alkaline terroir are significantly different to those required for the more acidic terroir profiles in most Australian growing regions. In recognition of this, we invest in research and experimentation to develop and refine our approaches to soil nutrition/microbiology/ balance. We judiciously introduce new technology and analytics to continuously improve our vineyard management practices, operational approaches and wine-making specifications to better suit our unique combination of cool climate conditions and alkaline soil profile.
To understand how different we are to most Australian wine growing regions in both micro-climate and soil profile, please explore our terroir.
Our terroir and vines are the lifeblood of our wines, so we actively care for the environment in which they are situated so they remain healthy for generations to come. Both low tech and high tech approaches are playing their part in our precision viticulture and sustainability journey.
We continuously improve our approaches and judiciously introduce new technology across all aspects of grape and wine production to support our enduring focus on raising the quality bar for grape cultivation, sustainably managing our natural resources, and nurturing our vine and soil health.
We are a member of Entwine Australia, the Australian wine industry’s sustainability program, and are enrolled in the Freshcare Environmental Viticulture program.