Description
About Granite Hills Wines
This family owned vineyard and winery is nestled high on the north slopes of the great divide in the Macedon Ranges wine region at an elevation of 550 metres, 85 kilometres north of Melbourne.
By the late 60’s, it was clear that the declining returns of traditional sheep farming would spell an end to the smaller properties. Always forward thinking and rarely deterred by a challenge, Gordon Knight has always been one in pursuit of a means to further improve the productivity of his plot. After much consultation with the staff of the then Victorian Department of Agriculture and other stakeholders in the wine industry, Gordon decided to take the biggest gamble of his life by selling near half of his treasured farmland to finance the establishment of a vineyard.
In 1970 just a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Riesling were planted as a trial. Encouraged by their some-what shy growth, further plantings of these varieties in 1971 and 1972 expanding the area to just 6 hectares.
In 1973 plantings consisting of Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer were met with disaster as dry period combined with the worst locust plague in history stripped the young vines of any reasonable chance of life, and had to be abandoned.
Perhaps of some intrigue, and although never certified, Granite Hills was initially managed organically, a strategy which continued on until 1976 – 77 when a difficult rainy season and vintage rationalised the need for a slightly more sustainable approach.
A few buckets of grapes in 1974 gave Granite Hills its first wine, albeit only a few dozen bottles of a Cabernet Shiraz blend. From the 1976 vintage came the first commercial releases with less than a hundred dozen of Riesling and a Cabernet Shiraz blend.
In 1978, sufficient quantities of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon gave rise to the first release of varietal Shiraz, which was truly ground breaking due to the pronounced peppery characteristics.
In early 1979, the first section of the winery was establish in time for the 79 vintage. Gordon and Heather’s son Llew also returned home to help after 4 years studying Wine Science at Wagga and a year working in the wine industry.
In 1982 Chardonnay plus Cabernet Franc and Merlot were planted expanding the Granite Hills vineyard to 9 Hectares. In 1999 the north slope Pinot Noir was established, and in 2004 Riesling and Shiraz plantings brought the total vineyard area at Granite Hills to 12 Hectares.
Since 2011, 3 Hectares of older Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz have been removed to make way for new and exciting varieties of Pinot Blanc, Gamay Noir, Gruner Veltliner and small planting of Malbec.
