Dalwhinnie

About Dalwhinnie

Our site was originally purchased by Ewan Jones, an architect, in 1973 and named after the Scottish Highlands town of his ancestors. Jones planted the vineyard after deep ripping (twice) the vine rows, removing trees and rock picking the site.

The first Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted in 1976, with the first red vintages produced in 1980. 1984 saw the first vintage of our Moonambel Chardonnay produced. The first ever release of our icon wine The Eagle Shiraz was in 1986.

In 1983 Ewan’s eldest son, David, took over the management of the vineyard, and later owned and operated Dalwhinnie from 1994 to January 2020.

Dalwhinnie has been a part of the Fogarty Hall portfolio since 2020 and keeps good company alongside Lake’s Folly in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales; Lowestoft and Tasmanian Vintners in Tasmania; and Deep Woods Estate, Evans & Tate, Millbrook and Smithbrook in Western Australia.

Julian Langworthy took over the reins as Chief Winemaker for Dalwhinnie in 2020, and along with Viticulturalist Sam Bartlett, has taken the wines to new heights.

In the Vineyard

The Location

Dalwhinnie’s 16-hectare vineyard is situated on the 37th parallel, near the small village of Moonambel in the heart of the Pyrenees region of western Victoria. At 595 metres above sea level, our site is the highest and most remote vineyard in the Pyrenees. Sheltered by the highest mountain range, this unique bowl of vines is located in a naturally undulating trough which falls away from the hills, forming an amphitheatre nestled into the ranges.

The Terroir

The poor and fragile soils from left-over alluvial mining areas in the 1850s are some of the hardest and hungriest you will ever see. However, the climate and soils are well suited to the production of complex Shiraz and this is why we specialise in this great variety. The average annual rainfall is 550mm with most rain falling between July and November. The site is totally frost-free which enables the grapes to reach optimum ripeness.

The Vineyard

The vineyard is non-irrigated and operated on strong organic viticultural principles with the fruit handpicked, and the vines cane-pruned by hand. The small individual vineyards average around 1.8 hectares in size and because of the hungry sedimentary soils the cropping levels are low; only 1.5 hectares per tonne. Cover crops are sown every year between the vineyard rows to add nitrogen to the soil.

In the Winery

The growing season was ideal: warm but not hot, with ample rainfall throughout, allowing the fruit to be picked at what could be described as perfect ripeness. Seasons like this produce ripe yet exceptionally fine tannin structures, and this is the most exciting Eagle Shiraz produced to date. The Eagle Shiraz is made only in the most exceptional vintages.

Sourced solely from the 1977 Eagle Block directly in front of the winery. The fruit was handpicked and fermented in two batches: one parcel was 100% whole-bunch, and the other 100% destemmed. The combination of these parcels has created a unique and remarkably complex wine. Following a cold soak and wild fermentation, the destemmed parcel remained on skins for 10 days, while its counterpart underwent seven days of carbonic maceration before being gently foot-stomped and left on skins for a further four days. The resulting wine was pressed and transferred to French oak puncheons (500-litre), 25% new, with the balance comprising one- and two-year-old barrels, where it matured for 14 months. Careful barrel selection was then undertaken to showcase this outstanding single-vineyard icon at its best.

Where in the World is Dalwhinnie?

Dalwhinnie’s 16-hectare vineyard is situated on the 37th parallel, near the small village of Moonambel in the heart of the Pyrenees region of western Victoria, Australia.