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The Vineyard
The vineyard was established in 1990 as “Lavender Bay” in the rich soils of Paringa Road, Red Hill South. Following the initial plantings of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay vines were introduced in 1996. The property was acquired in early 2002 and renamed Prancing Horse Estate. We immediately commenced a programme to revitalise the property and appointed Paul Danaher to manage day to day viticulture. The decision was taken to significantly prune the pinot noir and introduce a new trellis system to contain growth vigour and improve canopy management. The 2004 vintage was the first year we released a pinot noir.
From 2004 to 2007 we had an intensive program in place to remove all pesticides, herbicides and fungicides from the property. To date only very limited amounts have been used in 2002 and 2004. Since 2004 we have been successful in avoiding the need for any of these being applied in the vineyard.
From 2006 we also engaged Yves Herody, soil consultant to a number of leading domaines in Burgundy, France, to advise us on the future management of the soils of our vineyard. This is an essential component of our overall organic and bio dynamic practices.
We are currently extending the area under vine at the Paringa Road property from 5 acres to 12 acres and intend to add further clones of chardonnay and pinot noir and introduce the pinot gris variety. During 2006 Pascal Marchand from Domaine de Vougeraie (Burgundy, France) commenced as a consultant to oversee our new development and the future direction of our wines in conjunction with Sergio Carlei, our winemaker.
In 2007 a further 4 acre property was acquired in Pt Leo Road, Red Hill South, directly west of the existing Prancing Horse property in Paringa Road. Further plantings will take place on this new area during 2009.
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