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Wrattonbully Merlot management proves challenging but rewarding
30 Jul 2009
The Hill-Smith family’s Smith & Hooper vineyards are located
25km south-east of Naracoorte, South Australia, in the heart of the Wrattonbully
wine region. The annual average rainfall for the region is 582mm, with a mean
January temperature of 19.7°C. The Smith & Hooper vineyard has a total of
35ha planted to Merlot, ranging in age from 6-14 years. The vines are planted
across two distinct soil types: red clay on limestone overlayed with sandy loam
in thin layers, and deep loamy sand over clay.
From establishment, blocks were designated to commercial or
premium end-product objectives based on soil type, topography and row direction,
and managed accordingly. The blocks are planted on a range of rootstocks: 5BB
Kober, 5C Teleki, Ramsey, 101-14, 1103 Paulsen, 110 Richter and 140 Ruggeri. The
high vigour rootstocks, such as Ramsey and 140 Ruggeri, were planted in sites
with low vigour potential, while sites with higher potential were planted with
the lower vigour rootstocks 5C Teleki and 101-14. Prior to 2001, the clone used
in all plantings was D3V14. More recently, 8R and Q45-14 has been added to the
clonal mix. All blocks were established to a single cordon VSP
trellis.
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