Wantirna Estate Vineyard is not far from the centre of Melbourne, in the south-eastern area of Australia.
Planted in 1963 Wantirna Estate was the first of the new generation vineyards, the Yarra Valley having been an important grape growing area in the 1800s. The impetus for the vineyard began back in 1956 when Reg Egan married Bertina Curcio whose mother was English but whose father was Italian. Wine and food were important in the Curcio household and so started a fascination with the history of wine in Victoria. Before long they had their minds on a vineyard somewhere in the Yarra Valley.
The early vine plantings included all sorts of varieties, many largely unknown, for those early Australian wine growing days. Varieties such as crouchon, pedro ximenez, barbera and dolcetto. But it was the classical varieties that eventually won the day and in the 1970’s the vineyard was consolidated to focus on chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. Much of the existing cabernet sauvignon and merlot vines were part of the original 1963 plantings.
A large proportion of the grapes for this wine come from the original 1963 plantings of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc vines. The remainder is from the more recently planted – 1989 – petit verdot. Whilst the proportions are different every year, depending on fruit set and cropping levels, roughly speaking the break down is about as follows: 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% cabernet franc and merlot, and 5% petit verdot. The addition of the petit verdot grapes in the 1990s gave the wine an added backbone of tannin and natural acidity. With its long growing season, the petit verdot grapes are the last to be harvested, usually in mid April.
The vines for the Amelia are all dry farmed – that is, there is no irrigation. The roots go deep into the clay soil, searching out any available moisture. This and the age of the vines is crucial to making the intense yet elegant wine. The wine is approachable young but will age for more than fifteen years.
The Amelia cabernet sauvignon merlot also has cabernet franc and petit verdot in the blend and is from our oldest vines.
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