Leaky Door

John Weinrich, a local GP, doubtless shares much of the cost of running the vineyard, but it is wife Jay Mitchell (having completed a viticultural course with the South East Institute of TAFE in SA) who calls the shots and runs the vineyard. Their then teenage children helped the development of the vineyard, which has been a hands-on affair from start to finish. Currently a winery building is nearing completion; the widespread frost of 2006 meant no vintage in '07; thus the first real vintage came in '08. The vineyard is close-planted, primarily to 2.5ha of chardonnay and 0.5ha of pinot noir, and is a favourite haunt of birds, wallabies and foxes, most of which pay little attention to the netting put on two months before vintage. -JAMES HALLIDAY