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INTRODUCTION
 Before you start reading this, let me warn that when you look at Wombat Crossing Vineyard, you will see an example of what happens when you turn your hand to something that has long attracted you (i.e. drinking and enjoying wine) but challenges you to make the next step to vertically integrate your drinking habit into wine production.
Many have trodden this path; all have learnt a lot in the process of gaining the knowledge of viticulture and wine; some have carved out a new niche in the modern history of the valley and established successful brands and businesses.
It’s still early days at Wombat Crossing Vineyard. I have started small, and I now know enough to plan to always stay small. My aim is to make attractive, top shelf wines that exhibit the varietal and terroir-induced characteristics of single paddock wines grown in Pokolbin, in the Lower Hunter Valley.
For winemaking, instead of building my own winery at the vineyard, I chose to work with the best winemakers in the valley. We benefit from their expertise and small batch equipment to hand make our wines. We invest in the finest French oak barrels obtainable. In all, we seek to make the best wine possible from our vines, paying bespoke attention to detail in all parts of the growing and making processes. We bottle each vintage under Stelvin closures to ensure that the quality of the finished wine lasts for many years, and that there is no bottle variation or adverse cork impact on the wine.
When I first started in this business I was a bit confused by the way things were described. It was a little like leaving a familiar city and landing somewhere overseas – some of the things I saw and experienced made sense; others were totally alien. I put together this section to give you my perspective on what a new vigneron learns, and how that relates to the wine we produce at Wombat Crossing Vineyard.
The vineyard is located in an area that was once known as Patricks Plains, but which has more recently been named as an extension of the Pokolbin area. It was once covered by trees and grasslands, and as recently as the 1990’s was home to dairy and beef cattle, kangaroos and other natives (such as wombats). A dirt road connected Broke Rd to the New England Highway and to The Old North Road.
Subdivision and clearing then occurred. The vineyards that had been established in the first part of the last century by families such as Elliots, pointed the way to further good grape growing areas. The fourth Hunter Valley Grape Rush then occurred with many of the surrounding areas cleared and planted to grapevines.
Our vineyard is underlaid by the Belford dome of limestone, and is characterised by three different soil types. The Hermit Block Shiraz vineyard is planted on sandy clay loam, over clayey sand, and sandy clay over grey-brown with red mottle clay. The Creek Semillon block is planted in sandy loam over sandy clay loam, and the Malloch’s Block Chardonnay is planted on sandy clay loam over medium clay and sandy clay loam.
John Malloch established the vineyard in the 90’s, clearing and preparing the land and planting Semillon (1996) and Shiraz (1997). John did the really hard yards, as anyone who has planted and nurtured young vines will attest. He was bitten by the bug to go into wine grape growing. John sold his vineyard to me in 2003, but stayed on in the wine industry, first through supervising me in my apprenticeship at Wombat for 3 vintages, and now as the manager of viticulture at another vineyard in the valley. I am indebted to John for my practical knowledge of viticulture.
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Vineyard