Swinging Singles

Directions

The winemakers at Saltram and Wynns are all for it. Penfolds loves it - and Metala won’t do it any other way. At Coldstream Hills, they’ve been at it for years…
Creating wines of distinction from a single vineyard plot.
These (cunningly named) Single Vineyard wines are famous for their excellent quality and unique expressions of terroir - and wine-lovers can’t get enough of them.

Terroir?

Yes, it really is a thing. Terroir (not terror) refers to the mystical interaction of micro-climate, soil type, site orientation and farming practices - even the local bugs and microbes get a guernsey.

The French didn’t invent terroir – the ancient Greeks were onto it first – but they certainly ran with the ball and gave the concept its name

Catholic monks – who lovingly tended the vineyards of Burgundy for a thousand or so years - observed that the same wines grown in different sites exhibited markedly different personalities.

Closer to home, the red soils of the world-famous Terra Rossa in the Coonawarra highlight the diversity of terroir. And character is what it’s all about for Single Vineyard fans.

Are Single Vineyard wines better?

Trick question. Single Vineyard wines are invariably excellent - and have a definite mystique. But combining parcels of wine from different regions into a harmonious blend requires enormous skill, and many excellent wineries (Wolf Blass is a great example) have built considerable reputations on their ability to do so.

Even Penfolds Grange comprises fruit from up to six different regions in certain vintages. And who would quibble with the great one?Still not sure whether to swipe right for SVs or declare for blended beauties? A little homework may be called for. Your task, gentle reader, is simply to sample and observe.

Working in moderation – as no doubt the good brethren also did – it’ll keep you occupied for the next thousand years or so.