WE (CANDICE HELBIG AND FREWIN RIES) GROW OUR FRASER PARK VINEYARD PINOT NOIR JUST OUTSIDE OF STIRLING IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS.
FREWIN: We took over management of Fraser Park Vineyard in 2022 from it’s owner, Steven Young. Steven called the vineyard his folly – he had plans to make his own wine, but got busy with other projects. He’s quite happy to know that we’ve taken it off his hands and will be making wine from his vines.
The vineyard received NASAA Organic certification in February 2023. Our 2023 vintage will be the first with full certification, but of course, we’ve been growing organically since 2022.
Fraser Park was a little neglected when we first took over, but it has MV6 Pinot Noir clones and was trellised the right way, so we knew it had potential.
CANDICE: All up, we’ve got over a hectare of land under vineyard at Fraser Park. It’s a low vigour site and the vines are young, so the main challenge is to get more growth. To help things along, we’ve been using organic fertiliser and treating the vineyard in the same way we treat our Arranamore property – as a no-till site.
Just like at Arranmore, we’ve been letting the grass grow under the vines to slow down water loss during rainfall and hopefully increase vigour.
FREWIN: The 2022 harvest was pretty diabolical, but that’s just the first year and we’re in this for the long haul. We’re already seeing dramatic results from our efforts in terms of canopy and yield. And the 2022 vintage is quite floral with a nice weight to it.
The soil at Fraser Park is quite rocky. The vineyard tracks a ridge that has been terraced, meaning the site is drier and ripens a little earlier than Arranmore.
It’s also a little warmer than the extreme cold we experience at Arranmore. That said, Fraser Park is still at altitude and very much a cool climate for growing, but it’s likely to have a slightly riper style than the Pinot Noir we produce at Arranmore.
