STORY BY MICHAEL HARDEN, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER

It’s been 50 years since the first grapevines were planted at Granite Hills high in the Cobaw Ranges between Woodend and Lancefield. Gordon Knight, a fourth-generation sheep farmer, was looking for a way to supplement the income from his sheep and took something of a leap of faith by choosing to put in a vineyard. Back in the 1970s, grapes were not a common crop in the Macedon Ranges, with many believing at the time that the high altitude and cool temperatures would work against their viability. Half a century later, Gordon’s choice has been emphatically vindicated with the output from Granite Hills, made by his son Llew, standing among the great cool climate wines in Australia.

“Dad originally planted the vineyard to sell grapes to Tom Lazar who had Virgin Hills winery, the first vineyard in the region,” says Llew. “He was still going to run sheep but he was going to sell the grapes to Tom but after I showed some interest in winemaking – I was never a big fan of sheep when I was growing up – that changed our focus of what we were going to do.”

As is the lot of pioneers, it was not an easy road at first. For starters there was little information about or experience in growing grapes in the region. Then there was the time factor, given that it can take several years after planting before the vines bear enough fruit to sell. To add a further degree of difficulty to Granite Hill’s formative years, a locust plague in the mid-70s wiped out nearly all the new plantings.

“It wasn’t an easy time for my parents,” says Llew. “Dad was supplementing the income with wool classing and mum was out cleaning houses. They made a lot of sacrifices to keep things going and that was probably for me because I had expressed an interest in making wine.”

With the help of John Brown from Brown Brothers wines, they made their first vintages of shiraz and riesling. The wines attracted attention and accolades, the riesling for its elegant minerality and fine acid, the shiraz for its spicy, peppery characters. Suddenly the Macedon Ranges was on the winemaking map.

“The beauty of this region is the altitude, which means cool night temperatures,” says Llew. “We sit on the southern side of the Great Dividing Range that holds a cool pocket of air which means an extended growing season and a lovely retention of natural acid.

“I’ve always thought that this part of the world, with all its hills and valleys and vineyards and all the little villages and towns, is like the Alsace of Australia.”

Llew has followed up on that thought by increasing the number of varieties he’s growing and making wine from. Most recently, Granite Hills has been planted with gamay, pinot blanc (recently rating a glowing mention from British wine guru Jancis Robinson), grüner veltliner and viognier.

“One of the advantages of being around for 50 years is that you get to know the region really well and the varieties tend to sort themselves out,” he says. “In the early days in Australia every region tried to do everything but now with the kind of gathered knowledge we have, it means that regions like the Macedon Ranges reveal themselves as ideal for particular varieties and become distinctive for those.”

For fans of delicious, beautifully crafted Victorian cool climate wines, Granite Hill’s pioneering hard work deserves heartfelt and grateful thanks.

Granite Hills Winery

5423 7273

www.granitehills.com.au

1481 Burke and Wills Track, Baynton