Lark Hill Shiraz Viognier

Lark Hill was established in 1978 by Sue & Dave Carpenter, high on the escarpment above Bungendore, 30km North East of Canberra. Lark Hill is a cold vineyard and at 860m elevation, is one of the highest plantings in the Canberra District. The soils are shallow depleted shale over clay, and vineyard receives ~600mm of rainfall annually.

In 2002, their son Chris joined the winemaking team at Lark Hill.

The vines were planted in 1978 & are not very vigorous, giving intense flavours but limited crops. Lark Hill is sparingly irrigated, as most water available in the area is saline. Instead the vines are pruned for low yields and heavily mulched to make the most of any available soil moisture.
The first vintage was in 1981 and comprised Riesling and Chardonnay in tiny quantities.

Whilst a wide range of varieties were initially planted, the cold, dry nature of the site does not suit some varieties like Cabernet or Shiraz, and these have been grafted to more suitable choices.  The Lark Hill estate vineyard grows Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gruner Veltliner.

Shiraz grown in the red granite soils of their Dark Horse Vineyard shows rose petal, violets, brambly fruit and a twist of pepper.

Their vineyards are managed using Biodynamic principles for sustainability and to best express their unique terroirs.