Lofty Valley is dedicated to producing premium cool climate wines, with a particular interest in the two classics, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the wines capable from the grapes individually and the combination. The company – in its infancy – has only a few wines available for drinking at this time, but both varieties have been in production for a few years now, the Chardonnay having its first crop in 2007. The Chardonnay has excellent fruit characters arising from the long, slow ripening period and our commitment to limiting crop levels to maximise the quality. High natural acidity gives the wines a clean finish and good cellaring potential.The Pinot has a warm site so the flavours are quite robust but the elevation and sloping ground allow that silky texture to survive!Our vineyard is located between Summertown, Ashton and Uraidla – all famous for similar wines – and only 500m from the now wine famous Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills. Mt Lofty towers above all these places – but the characteristic that they all have is elevation, wind protection and high rainfall. In fact Mt Lofty has the highest rainfall in the driest state in the driest continent (40 inches on average in the old scale). The altitude of the region averages about 500 metres, and is absolutely worthy of the subregion status some have argued for. As a consequence of these wonderful climactic features, irrigation is seldom needed or applied.
Although the vineyard is very young (the first plantings were in 2004), it has produced outstanding fruit from the start. Our first real vintage was 2008, and the first wine we completed (the ’08 Lofty Valley Unwooded Chardonnay) won a Silver Medal and was awarded the highest point score of any 2008 Chardonnay in the Adelaide Hills Regional Wine Show. Our aim is not to be complacent but to better these results and to produce wines which are sought after nationally. Since then the Pinot has been awarded 91 points(2010) and the Chardonnay 94 points (2010)by none other than James Halliday. We look forward to the results from our 2011 vintage as the fruit was exceptional (what little there was!)
These outstanding results from such young vines show great promise for the future and confirm the potential of both the vineyard and the region. We welcome Brendon Keys as our winemaker in 2010 and our joint venture partners in a state of the art winery near Lenswood. This albeit small winery is being built from the ground up now and will be operational for the 2012 season. Emphasis on excellence and to control the winemaking process is the goal. Brendon will oversee everything and has his own winelabel which is already making heads turn! His wines are really something, and we are so lucky to have secured his services!
We spend a great deal of time in the vineyard to maximise the quality of the fruit. Because we live on the site we can watch over the vines closely and attend to the various issues in a timely fashion. We hand prune and hand pick to ensure that only the best fruit is selected each year. We use a sorting table to further enhance fruit quality. The result of the various factors above is that we can control the whole process and therefore have a better outcome than otherwise might be achieved! Our wines certainly do reflect this!
Wines in the making or currently available are a wooded Chardonnay 2010 , 2011, a chablis style ever so lightly wooded Chardonnay 2011, a 2011 vintage Sparkling, a non vintage sparkling, Pinot Noir from 2010 and 2011, a Shiraz 2009 and a reserve Shiraz 2008. The Shiraz's, while all excellent wines , are not from Lofty Valley, we are fortunate to have a very friendly grower who espouses our values in a slightly warmer region.
Cellar Door: We do not have a cellar door at this time but we are thinking about it…. Barratt Wines have a cellar door in the same street if you come up this way and we are not around… It is still possible to taste the wines; there are tastings from time to time at various locations around Adelaide, and many restaurants have these wines available – a private tasting can be arranged if requested. Just email or call us!