The people, the pedigree and the stories behind the Great Southern Wine Region are as captivating as the wines themselves. Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce you to some of the region’s leading wine makers and growers, the stewards of soil, climate and vine, as they share their philosophies on three key pillars of their craft. These are the voices behind the vines.
Vanessa Carson, Winemaker at Plan B! Wines and THE NEXT HUDRED YEARS.
The Great Southern is a such a vast region with so many exciting qualities. Above all though is the pristine quality and varietal expression of the grapes grown here – the grapes reflect that cooler climate with beautiful minerality which tends to run throughout the palate, as well as a finesse we find delightful. We aim to craft wines with elegance and personality, wines that express their place and our love of savoury, precise fruit flavours.
On Vineyard Management: We believe that fruit for our wines is grown in the vineyard so in terms of vineyard management we aim to respect the vineyard and all that it encompasses. We like to encourage soil biodiversity, understand the soil profile and then accommodate and work with the climatic characteristics of each vineyard plot as well.
On Organic and sustainable practices: We employ organic and sustainable practices as much as possible. We want our vines and vineyards to be sustainable for many decades to come and as such explore alternative and sustainable techniques to encourage vine health and growth, which we believe ultimately delivers us better fruit with which to work.
On Winemaking techniques: We like our wines to reflect the region the fruit is grown in so ideally there is minimal winemaking artefact employed, but instead an expression of place and variety is what we seek. We are using less new oak in our wines and are also utilising large format oak casks and amphora to deliver brighter fruit flavours and minerality.