King Valley Vineyard (-36.741269, 146.379236)

King Valley Vineyard was established in 1977 by the Cavedon family in the cool climate wine region of the King Valley. This unique site has a gently sloping easterly aspect, with red volcanic soils containing decaying basalt on the slope, the vineyard rises to over 400 metres above sea level. The vineyard is run to best viticultural practice to achieve the highest quality fruit. It relies mainly on natural rainfall which the underlying basalt retains and assists the vines throughout periods of warm weather, almost drought-proofing in the summer months. The vines run north to south with the high mountain range protecting and shading the western side canopy and fruit on warm to hot days.

Our Valley Selection range of small batch wines are created from parcels of fruit carefully selected by our winemakers from a single vineyard. The wines explore the individuality of each variety and our expression of wine styles, while reflecting the unique region in which they are grown. Each bottle captures the essence of the growing season and the vineyard, nurtured by our growers, and then passionately crafted by our winemakers into remarkable and age-worthy wines.

Picked on the 17th of March at 16°C with a baumé of 11.1, the grapes were tipped into the grape hopper and la fleur de cuvée (the first flush of free run juice) was drained off even before the grapes were destemmed and crushed. The juice was allowed to settle for two days and the clears were racked off to a tank where the wine was inoculated with yeast for primary fermentation. It was fermented at a cool 13°C for 13 days and then allowed to sit on yeast lees for 3 months, mixed every few weeks to bring finesse and harmony to the palate. The wine was filtered just prior to bottling.

The 2023 vintage will go down as not only one of the latest on record, but also one of the most challenging in recent memory. A third La Niña event in a row made for a much cooler and wetter spring followed by a cool summer and autumn with small rain events that certainly kept us on our toes. Whilst the weather made for some stressful and very busy periods, we were able to harvest everything at optimum ripeness and clean of disease. The below average crop levels coupled with a long slow ripening have produced wines that have intense aromatics, ripe flavours and all the hallmarks of age-worthiness. An excellent vintage.

Toni Pla Bou