Dead Horse Hill

Jencie McRobert (and husband Russell) ‘did a deal with Dad' for approximately 65ha of her parents' large sheep and wheat farm at Toolleen, 20km north of Heathcote. It took a number of years for the dry-grown shiraz vines to achieve reasonable yields, but they are now yielding between 3.7 and 5 tonnes per ha of high quality fruit. Jencie's introduction to wine came partly through the family dining table and partly from meeting Steve Webber, then working for Lindemans at Karadoc, when she was working in soil conservation and salinity management in the Mallee, and subsequently completed a course at CSU. -JAMES HALLIDAY