Banyandah Estate

Terry South is a retired solicitor with an associate degree in wine growing from CSU, and he and wife Vicki Adamson purchased Banyandah in 2001. They hired the late Bill Christophersen (who was my vineyard manager in the early days of Coldstream Hills) as a consultant for soil analysis, vineyard site, varieties, etc. They planted the vineyard with a 2.5 ? 0.75m spacing and a vine density of approximately 6000 vines per ha. The vineyard is at 700m, and particularly cool, the soil deep red volcanic clay/loam. The vines have very vigorous growth, but the site does not ripen the crop until late April (mid-April in the hottest, driest years). This has meant shoot and bunch thinning to restrict the yield to 3 tonnes per ha. Prior to the 2013 vintage they sold the grapes, but in that year decided to retain the crop and secure the services of Llew Knight as contact winemaker. -JAMES HALLIDAY