djinta djinta Winery is located in the Southern Gippsland. This is Australia's southern most mainland winegrowing area. Our property is 10.5 acres of which eight are under vine. It is divided in half by an ephemeral stream. The older plantings date back to 1987 are on the southern side of this stream called our “hill block†comprising of: 3 acres Sauvignon Blanc, 1.0 acre Cabernet Sauvignon. This vineyard faces north and is planted across the slope (contour). All originally on VSP, the sauvignon blanc is now on improvised lyre trellis in an effort to control vigour.
The new plantings since 1991 are on the northern side of the stream we call our “home block†and comprising of: 1.2 acres Merlot, 1.05 acres Marsanne, 0.55 acres Semillon, 0.15 acres Cabernet Sauvignon, 0.15 acres Cabernet Franc, 0.15 acres Viognier, 0.15 acres Roussanne,
These vines face east and run down slope. All are at 1.2 metre spacings with 2.2 metre row width.
Further plantings took place in 2007 in our middle block comprising of: 1.3 acres Riesling, 0.2 acres Viognier.
There is underlying rock generally occurring at a depth of between .8 to 1.0 metres and is fine grained felspathic sandstone deposited during the Cretaceous period. The rock has a low angle of dip and is somewhat fractured at the soil/rock interface, enabling root penetration.
The soils that have developed on these sediments have a clay loam surface soil which generally increases to a light or medium clay. The soils are generally acid with a pH of around 5.5. The ground water tends to run along the soil/rock interface, but does tend to water logging in two or three places. There is also an underground stream running across the newer (northern) vineyard.
We are located in a high wind, high rainfall (1200mm) area (see Gladstones data for Leongatha 6 km away). We gain some protection from the wind due to our location being in a natural amphitheatre.
Our philosophy has maintained a soft spot for Marsanne (Tahbilk) and chose to plant this varietal for sentimental reasons. We have found Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier to be most suitable on this site hence the expansion of these varieties. The earliest ripening variety here is Sauvignon Blanc.
We have planted over 600 indigenous trees and bushes in the middle plateau and have noted around 60 species of bird which is well up on the dozen types at first count in 1992. We have found the birds keep the insect pests under control, especially our name sake the willy wag tail on our right. There are however a few grape eating birds for which we use nets to keep out.
We spray for fungus and mildew. Weed spray is only performed when absolutely necessary for hard to control weeds. The vineyard is worked- trimming, shoot tucking and de-suckering by hand.
The grapes are grown in a biodynamic environment with minimal chemical intervention. During the late autumn and winter months our sheep and alpacas graze on the grass surrounding the vines.
We attain a philosophy of squeaky clean wine production with an 'olde worlde' angle to our wines. This provides a very 'French' feel to them, but without the high sulphur levels. We keep total sulphur below 100ppm.
Our wines are best served 'not overly chilled' to allow the flavour to be appreciated.
The wines are made to age being slightly higher in acid than 'normal' Australian wines making them a perfect compliment with food. The extra acid helps cleanse the palate throughout the meal and the flavour enhances the experience, and tends to improve after being open for sometime- like French wines. We believe this approach gives the wines SOUL and character.
