“Midhill” is a small vineyard located 2km west of Romsey in the Macedon Ranges, central Victoria, just 1 hr from Melbourne’s CBD. The vineyard overlooks the pretty valley of Romsey Creek and Ochiltrees Hill. It produces premium fruit, the wines from which have won trophies and several silver and bronze medals in the past few years.
The farm also is home to a herd of quiet Angus cattle.
Hew and Di Richards planted their first grapes in 1993 and the vines are now well established. The cold climate of Macedon Ranges is conducive to slow ripening fruit and harvest time is well into autumn. Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir have been planted. Their entry into the wine making world has been accompanied by a few serendipitous events.
We were lucky to have as a neighbour, one of the pioneer winemaker/vignerons of the district and his advice was to plant Chardonnay, which we did. Besides making a range of superb table wine styles, Chardonnay is a multi-purpose variety and a major ingredient in “Champagne” or, as we call it locally “Macedon”.
Initially we set out to only grow wine grapes for others, but we were encouraged to have some of our fruit made into wine for our own label, and in particular Sparkling Macedon, to which this region is so well suited. With only the white grape Chardonnay on hand, we made a Sparkling which the French call “Blanc de Blancs.” More commonly traditional sparkling is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, in various proportions according to the winemaker’s whim.
Our Blanc de Blancs Macedon has turned out to be a delightful, dry, light citrus style which develops creamy yeast overtones after 3 years on lees.
The second happy turn of events was the discovery of 3 dozen of our vines in the first planting which were not Chardonnay. They ripened pink/brown fruit instead of green, and the grapes were very popular with the pickers, and the birds. They ripened a little earlier and so were picked separately. Experts identified them as Gewurztraminer. “Gewurz” is a German word for “spicy”. Traminer is an old European variety grown best in colder areas. On researching this variety, we found that fruit gave the best flavour and aromas when grown in cold areas with well drained, acidic soils of volcanic origin. This described our vineyard site precisely.
We have since planted a half an acre of the vines, propagated from the first 3 dozen. We are finding there are many Gewurztraminer lovers among the wine drinking population. Our “Gewurz” has a classic Turkish delight floral spice and varietal aromas. It is dry and has a lively crisp acidity.
Our third variety grown at Midhill is the Pinot Noir clone MV6. Although the vines are still relatively young they produce a well structured table wine with good varietal flavour.
The vineyard site has very good soils, a northerly aspect looking across a valley to assist the cold air drainage and reduce frost risk. Our yearly production is small, but the resulting wines have proven to be above our expectations.
Our family business is to grow good grapes to make good wine alongside Angus cattle bred for tender beef.
BUDBURST
The annual Macedon Ranges wine and food festival is a celebration of the wines of 30 wineries all open, with fine food, wine makers dinners and more..
13 - 14 November 2010.
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your website looks great! Heather and I must find the time one of these days to come up and visit you guys, and to taste some of your fine wines whilst we catch up on all our news. I am still working, but looking forward to slowing down later next year, if not before! cheers for now, Gary Smith
Cheers, Bill
Looking forward to many more visits.
Cheers,
Annabel and Roger