Back Pocket Vineyard
Back Pocket is 50 acres, nestled in a valley below the tree-line of a range of granite hills at Severnlea, through which Back Creek runs.
Our soils are essentially decomposed granite and deep for the Granite Belt. We have comparatively little rock on the property, around 10%, much less than the Granite Belt standard of around 30%.
Ten-metre-wide spoon drains around our boundaries direct most of the available runoff from the surrounding hills into a 21 megalitre dam. An underground spring, which flows after heavy rain in northern NSW, also runs into the dam.
We grow 5 acres of vines which are managed entirely by hand.
Our vine rows are 3 metres apart and our vine spacing within these rows is 2 metres. We believe this gives our vines sufficient space to survive unirrigated in the long term.
We spur prune our vines within a vertical shoot positioned trellis system. Our vines grow a bilateral cordon along a 1-metre-high fruiting wire. And we raise 2 pairs of foliage wires during Spring to lift and hold the rapidly growing canes in an upright position.
We thin canes, leaf pluck and crop thin during the growing season to increase both light and air circulation within the canopy, enhance ripening and reduce the risk of disease.
We irrigate as required to establish new vines and then apply minimal irrigation to maintain the vines and maximise fruit quality for winemaking.
The grapes are hand picked to allow fruit selection and minimise MOG (matter other than grapes) in the crush.
We follow a vineyard management programme which maximises the use of organic disease-prevention sprays and the use of organic pesticides that are friendly to beneficial insects.
In addition, we adhere to the recommendations of the Australian Wine Research Institute and Croplife Australia which advises on export standards for maximum residue limits, and the minimal use of possible disease-resistant sprays, organochorines, organophosphates and carbonates.
Old Block
This block of 596 shiraz vines (0.75 acres) are dry grown. We believe the vines were planted in the early 1980's based on anecdotal evidence provided by early buyers of the grapes.
We don't know the origin of these vines. Many of the older vineyards in the district were planted as own-root cuttings from neighbouring vineyards and we suspect this is how the Old Block came about.
We have hand-watered this block in very dry times (2003 and 2007) when the vines have suffered heat stress before picking.
Millennium Block
We planted this block of 1332 shiraz vines (2 acres) in December 2000. The vines started life as grafted rootlings in banded (biodegradable) pots. We chose Richter 99 and Richter 110 rootstocks for drought tolerance and nematode resistance, and clones BVRC30 and BVRC12.
Fiano Block
One acre of the Millennium block was converted from shiraz to fiano in Spring-Summer 2009. We grafted our fiano buds in two stages: 404 vines in December 2008 and another 338 in January 2009. Our fiano clone is VCR3.
Photos Fiano Grafting Preparation September 2009
Photos Fiano Grafting March 2009
Tempranillo Block
We planted this block of 901 tempranillo vines (1.25 acres) in August 2002. The vines started life as dormant, bare-rooted, grafted vines. We chose Richter 110 rootstocks for drought tolerance and nematode resistance. The only available clone was D8V12.
Graciano Block
We first planted this block of 689 graciano vines (1 acre) in January 2006. The vines started life as grafted rootlings in banded (biodegradable) pots. We chose Richter 110 rootstocks for drought tolerance and nematode resistance. The only available clone was SAVII01.
In Spring 2006 it became obvious that we had lost 80% of these new vines to the severe and sustained freezing temperatures between 24 May and 4 June, during which overnight temperatures ranged from -7C to -5C, before the vines had become dormant.
We replaced the missing vines in January 2008. The replacement vines were again grafted rootlings in banded pots on Richter 110 rootstocks. The new clone is VCR114.
Vintage Reports
One of the wonderful things about single-vineyard wines is that they speak directly for the vineyard each and every season. Mal's vintage reports describe the climatic conditions, and other trials and tribulations, at Back Pocket each vintage. You really can get to know our vines through our single-vineyard wines.