Vineyard

The close-planted vines at the Hard Hill Road Vineyard are nestled along a ridgeline and surrounded by eucalypt forest. In the morning, mobs of kangaroos can be seen bounding along the rows, and in the evening, flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos settle in the red gum trees for the night.

An adjacent knoll, named ‘Hard Hill’ by the 1850s gold miners for the inhospitable nature of its slopes, epitomizes the vineyard. The unyielding soil, characterized by ironstone and quartz outcrops, is ideal for growing the richly flavoured grapes so important to A.T. Richardson Wines.

The vineyard’s northeast-facing slope not only captures the earliest morning sun (essential in the rapidly cooling ripening month of April), it also shelters the vines. These challenging growing conditions, along with the low annual rainfall and carefully situated vineyard blocks, conspire to produce fruit of wonderful intensity and balance.