two dragons vineyard and farm

Wines of Two Dragons Vineyard – ‘From Biota to Bottle’

To date our vineyard has produced fruit which makes into very drinkable wines!

Our ‘Biota to Bottle’ Philosophy!!

The approach to developing the farm is to work on a ‘whole of farm’ basis, trying to integrate environmental, social and economic needs into the process. The focus is now shifting to clarify measures and benchmarks with which to evaluate and improve our current performance. This is our challenge as we look towards the next 5 years.

We work on the philosophy of feeding the soil and the bugs in it that make the soil friable and healthy. The soil quality is what flavours the fruit – hence our phrase from biota to bottle!. The wine has soft tannins with sweet fruit flavours. It is fruit driven wine which has been aged in oak for a minimum of12 months. It is great accompaniment for simple slow food such as roast lamb, gourmet pizzas or savouring on the veranda with friends!

Vintage Summary
Our first vintage in2001 was very good with strong flavoured fruit and a big learning curve for us. Coordination of labour and the harvest process was very unfamiliar and a real challenge. We harvested 24 tonnes by hand and thought we were fantastic.

The quality of the fruit in Vintage 2002 was equally good if not better but tonnages were down due the seasonal conditions. It was another hand pick and we had a few more smarts about us. The pick took 2 days which made it difficult for the winery to crush all the fruit at the same time.

So Vintage 2003 was machine harvested. It took about 9 hours not including breakdowns and was all over in one day. We didn’t get any fruit from that year as it was all sold.

Vintage 2004 the taste of the fruit indicated it would produce a good wine which it has and we still have some available for sale.

A small amount of Tempranillo was added to the crush of Shiraz which has produced our Shiraz 2005 …with a dash! It is an excellent wine which is has some of the unique savory flavours of the Tempranillo.

Vintage 2006 is still in the barrel as is 2007. They will continue the traditions of quality, Shiraz characters I expect of the Two Dragons Label. The Tempranillio will join the Shiraz in its own right from 2006 onwards however we will not rule out a doing a blend again.

The Future

Our philosophy is to tread softly on the environment and the prescription of the water resources of the Eastern Mt Lofty Ranges has given us an opportunity to hone our approach to the land and land management.

While we are not yet certified organic, we try to use organic products (Shirley calls them “hippy food”) whenever we can. We have a focus on building up the soil, conserving water and revegetating the land as well as growing quality fruit to make the best wines.

We use Australian cypress pine [calytris] posts rather than CCA treated or creosote posts which are farmed introduced pines so we don’t poison the soil. We are also trying some recycled plastic posts. Watch this space for how they work!