2022 Manon Forest White
WINEMAKER: Tim Webber & Monique Milton
REGION: Adelaide Hills, SA
VARIETY: Sauvignon Blanc
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic
The block itself is a steep intensely beautiful block dropping off to the south east with mighty views and underlaid by a rich seam of gold and pyrite bearing quartz on a bedrock of slate. Minerality abounds. These vines are 30+ years. The slope awakens to the morning sun and is sheltered by the afternoon. This block has also been uncultivated for more than three decades and was cleared for the first time when it was planted. To walk through this section is to be amazed by a luxuriant native perennial pasture of wallaby and spear grasses in regenerative harmony.
Manon Farm is perched high up (600 meters elevation) on the Forest Range ridge of the Adelaide Hills nestled between the Basket Range and Lenswood. With a dramatic view straight down to the Gulf St Vincent below this unique situation is very rewarding for the vines as cooling air is drawn straight up and over the farm from the ocean. This combined with the elevation results in an extra long, slow ripening period for the grapes and ideal growing conditions for our organic approach.
The ridge was formed some 600 million years ago during the Cambrian period and as such there is a great complexity of very, very old rocks - predominately mica schists with large seams of iron stone quartz then a red clay layer and lastly a thin but beautiful top soil formed by ancient eucalypt forests and the passage of time... This super abundance of quartz and mica (silica) makes for very mineral driven wines.
The vines are dry farmed and the land is tended using Biodynamic culture - a holistic farming method in sync with the rhythms of the earth and the cosmos which is dear to our hearts and hands. This is incredibly enriching and satisfying for us and the land. We wish not to control Nature but to work with, listen to and be attentive every step of the way. Creating a truly diverse working farm with vines, orchards, vegetables and native forest. Our own world truly humming with the vibration of life.