GREENSTONE
Alberto Antonini and David Gleave have known each other since meeting in Montalcino in 1989. Both make their living from Italian wine - Alberto as a winemaker, consultant and grape grower, David as the UK importer of some of Italy's top producers - yet they have often discussed over the years the great allure of Australia and Australian wine. The styles of wine, and the freedom to plant and develop the best variety for your piece of land, is of great appeal to them both. So when Mark Walpole, Victoria native and one of Australia's leading viticulturists, took Alberto Antonini to visit the Greenstone site, Alberto wasted no time in ringing David in London. "I'm standing on a hill in Heathcote that would make a great vineyard," he shouted and that was all it took to set the Greenstone Vineyard in motion. The initial excitement of the three original partners remains undiminished, and is clearly vindicated by the quality of the wines produced.
The 40 hectare Greenstone Vineyard is situated north of the town of Heathcote at Colbinabbin, about a 90 minutes drive north of Melbourne. Twenty hectares are under vine.
The Heathcote wine region lies just north of the Great Dividing range in central Victoria at an altitude of around 200 metres. It is long, encompassing a large proportion of the Cambrian ridge, and this distance means there is a marked climatic difference between north and south. In general, Heathcote, while warmer and more continental than districts south of the Great Dividing Range, still enjoys some lower temperatures because of the prevailing cool, south to southeast winds. These sweep over the Tooborac hills up on to the Mount Camel Range, and blow from October to March, coinciding with the vines' growing period.
