Steeped in history and nestled between world-renowned Eden Valley vineyards, in what is known as "The Golden Triangle", you'll find Brockenchack Wines.

Location

351 Sawpit Gully Road, Keyneton, South Australia 5353

-34.579400 Latitude / 139.109924 Longitude

Growing Region

Region: Barossa

Sub Region: Eden Valley

The Barossa’s beautiful high country, Eden Valley, is one of Australia’s premier cool climate wine growing regions, characterised by its rugged beauty and varied topography. Eden Valley wines are distinctive in their character, displaying wonderful aromatics, elegance, complexity and finesse. With a wine making history dating back to 1847, Eden Valley is home to some of the world’s oldest Shiraz and Riesling vineyards. Traditional grape growing continues today, with a focus on sustainability and authenticity.

Temperatures & Growing Conditions

Overall growing season temperatures are significantly lower than those of the Barossa Valley. The final stages of ripening and harvesting take place in much cooler conditions and harvest is generally around three weeks later than the Barossa valley floor as well.

 

Our Region's Top Varietals

Shiraz

Shiraz ranks as the most important red grape and is often the most highly regarded wine of the region. The wines can show the spicy and white pepper characters of cool climate Shiraz from southern Australia, as well as luscious plum and blackberry fruit characters, with touches of liquorice and sometimes more gamey, forest characters. Structurally, the wines are very smooth, with ripe tannins that are integrated and well balanced, guaranteeing a long life.

Riesling

The Eden Valley is a region that is well known for it’s tradition of producing high quality Riesling grapes. The wines have strong lime juice aromas with great intensity of flavour on the palate. As the wines age, marmalade and toasty nuances appear on the nose and palate. Quality Eden Valley Riesling will take ten years or more to reach their peak.

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cabernet Sauvignon produced from vineyards around the Eden Valley region is of the highest quality, with perfectly ripened cassis-accented fruit flavours. These contrast with wine from higher, cooler sites that have more elegant undertones of green leaf and dark berry characters.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a relative newcomer, with the first commercial vineyards in South Australia being established at Mountadam in 1973. This variety has proved to be highly successful in our region. Our Chardonnay vines continue to develop beautifully; producing rich, complex wines with flavours ranging from melon, fig and cashew.

 

Vineyard Elevation / Altitude

450 - 480 metres above sea level (1,476 - 1,574 ft)

Average Rainfall

400 - 450mm annually (16-18 inches), with 280mm (11 inches) of this occurring during the growing season.

Growing Soils

Rolling, exposed hills with moderately steep gradients are commonplace and the correct match of site and grape variety is critical. Given the varied terrain, there are a number of soil types. The most common, range from grey to brown in colour, and from loamy sand to clay loams. Ironstone gravels, quartz gravels and rock fragments are present in the surface and subsurface.

Icon Range: William Frederick Shiraz and our D.E.N Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

Viticulture

Pruning starts in May when the leaves drop off and carries through to the end of August. Our vines are 100% hand pruned. 75% is spur pruned on permanent cordons. 25% is pruned on rod and spur – which involves laying down a new cane each year to maximise consistency in yields and quality.

In September we place organic based compost and manure on the vine varieties that require it that year. This usually lasts around 3 years and we rotate around the vineyard as needed. In September we lay under vine straw on the vines that require it and top this up every 3-4 years. This keeps the weeds down and maximises moisture retention.

During the bud burst period (mid to end of September) we commence the fungicide & nutrient program to prevent fungal diseases on leaves and developing fruit. This continues through to February. We apply liquid nutrients at the same time. The liquid nutrients are applied through the irrigation system (fertigation - the application of liquid fertiliser through the irrigation system) directly to the roots. The nutrients required are determined by the soil and leaf samples taken prior.

In October we commence shoot thinning and then around late December/early January we go through and do bunch thinning in places where it is over-cropped. This allows greater airflow to keep disease away and also maintains consistency of quality of bunches throughout the vineyard. We then hand pick 25% and machine pick 75% of fruit between March and early April. On average, our harvest season generally lasts between 8-10 weeks.