Behind every great wine is a great vineyard. This is certainly the case for the vineyard behind the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Sauvignon Blanc of the Year – the 2023 Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc – which is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year.
Terre à Terre’s Crayères vineyard, which produced the winning wine, was planted in 2004 in the heart of the Wrattonbully wine region by husband-and-wife duo Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser. “When we selected the vineyard site in 2003, we knew this limestone ridge covered by pure Terra Rossa soil had good potential. We never anticipated how resilient the site would be,” says Xavier. When the vineyard was planted, a network of caves were discovered underneath the limestone, reminiscent of the chalk caves in Champagne where winemaker and viticulturist Xavier was raised.
This French connection was echoed in Xavier and Lucy’s vision for the site, with their aim to make the best possible expressions of clarets (cabernet blends) from Australia. They planted their red varieties on the western part of the vineyard, directly on Terra Rossa soils, and the eastern part of the vineyard was planted to sauvignon blanc, on eolian sands of Terra Rossa and limestone.
Uniquely for Australia at the time, Xavier and Lucy designed the vineyard with close spacing (1.5m x 1.5m) and with low-fruiting wire (0.5m above ground). “We believe this design has been determinant in driving the superb quality of the grapes we hand-pick every year,” says Xavier. “The fruit coming from the vineyard is thriving in both cooler and warmer seasons, delivering very balanced wines.”
Xavier and Lucy have continuously managed the vineyard since its inception in 2004, making the 20-year anniversary a huge milestone for Terre à Terre. Aided by a small team of viticulturists, Xavier’s approach is hands-on and labour intensive – they hand prune, shoot bash and shoot thin, hand harvest and sort the fruit as they harvest. “I spend all my time in vintage sorting out and tasting fruit, which allows me to make the right decisions for the winemaking,” says Xavier. “The connection with the vineyard is the main marker of fine wine.”
This connection doesn’t just extend to the Crayères vineyard, but to their vineyards in the Piccadilly Valley as well, used for their DAOSA label sparkling wines. As Xavier says, “We grow the fruit, make the base wines, tirage and disgorge the wines ourselves. It is a time-consuming process, and it is dear to my heart as I originally come from Champagne.” Next year, in 2025, they will be celebrating 30 years of the original DAOSA vineyard!
Terre à Terre wines are made with the intention to be aged, so you won’t be able to taste the full potential of the Crayères and DAOSA vineyards until the wines they make today are 10 to 15 years old. However, given that the wines are already taking home huge awards – including Sauvignon Blanc of the Year (three times!) – we’d say they’re already thriving.
Terre à Terre wines to try:
2023 Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
2025 Halliday Wine Companion Sauvignon Blanc of the YearFermented in stainless steel tank (52 per cent) and older oak (48 per cent). Aged on full lees with no battonage. Pineapple, guava, perfectly ripe mango skin and lilikoi. Driving and elegant natural acidity and a wash of juicy tropical fruit with hints of glacé ginger and nutmeg spice. A fuzz of nettle texture and the wine finishes quite full bodied. It's a sauvignon blanc made with care, attention to detail and purity of fruit. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion, 97 points (Score awarded by the Halliday tasting team at the annual Awards judging).
Best enjoyed: Serve with Salade de Crottin de Chavignol chaud (warm goat’s cheese salad) or with oven roasted snapper with braised fennel.
RRP $35 | Cellaring potential: 10+ years | Shop this wine
2020 Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Reserve
78/22 per cent cabernet sauvignon/shiraz; matured in 100 per cent new French oak barrels for 14 months. Bottle aged for a further 24 months before release. A seductive mix of tulip, blood plums and adzuki bean. Stewed figs, raspberry compote and glacé cherry. Tobacco, cocoa nib and espresso. The 100 per cent new oak is significant but so too is the concentration of fruit. The fruit has the star power to assert itself through the cedar notes. It's worthy of its price tag and satisfying in its early drinking days but careful cellaring will increase your pleasure tenfold. This will wow many dinner guests. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $90 | Cellaring potential: 20–30 years | Shop this wine
2022 Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
57/43 per cent cabernet sauvignon/shiraz. Matured in French oak barrels and foudres for 14 months. Raspberry gel, pomegranate juice and morello cherries in syrup. Blackberry wine gums, sage and thyme. This really encompasses the claret style, the ease of drinking and the ability to please an array of palates. Still knitting together, this wine will cellar very well, as it opens like a flower in slow motion. Tannins are lacy and fine with peaks of acidity dotted throughout the palate. Cinnamon, cumin and mace spice to finish. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion, 95 points.
RRP $59 | Cellaring potential: 15–20 years | Shop this wine
2022 Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Franc
91/9 per cent cabernet franc/shiraz; matured in French oak barrels and foudres for 14 months. Rosella, rhubarb and persimmon. Red cherries and cranberry juice. This shows the pretty side of franc with some plummy mid-palate weight. Tannins are angular and acidity crunchy. There are some blackberry fruit notes with raspberry roll-ups in the mix, too. Spices are on the side of cassia bark and dusty cinnamon. A wine for those that enjoy perfumed wines with a lofty touch. Great value. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion, 93 points.
RRP $35 | Cellaring potential: 8–12 years | Shop this wine
For more, visit terreaterre.com.au.
