Truly great wine results from a partnership between the land and the people who nurture it.
To mix metaphors, it’s a bit like dogs and diamonds (as in “best friends” not “gone to the”).

So it’s only right to include “the land” — along with our approach to wine-making,
when we’re talking about our team.

The Land

Helen's Hill Estate — named in memory of the property’s previous owner, Helen Fraser 
is situated on top of a splendid hill, commanding one of the finest views of the valley.

The estate comprises some 65ha (or 160 acres — we speak both languages),
which sits above the frost line on a base of sandy clay loam soils.
All this provides an excellent footing for growing healthy vines.

Helen’s Hill Estate actually came into being when we expanded the “old block”. We planted some new-fangled and old-but-rare vine varieties to augment the existing classic ones (which we also added to), a pinch of pixie dust, and we were away.

This “old block” was bought in the early 1990s, with its existing plantings of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet blend varieties. It’s the fruit from these vines with which we make our classic cool climate varieties.  

In 2004, these “old block” vines were handed the keys to the tractor upon turning 21 — making them among some of the oldest established vines in the Yarra Valley. At this age, they are really hitting their prime for making wine (vines start to become quite good around year 8 and just get better with age… as do we all).

The “new block” has been planted with similar varieties (to allow us to expand), plus Shiraz, Merlot, Cab Sav and Sauvignon Blanc. We’ve also planted some lesser-known varieties, including Viognier and Arneis.