Hackersley Estate produces exceptional quality wine, grown and produced in the beautiful and pristine Ferguson Valley, which is located within the stunning Geographe Wine Region which covers an area from Harvey and Collie in the North, to Dardanup and through to Donnybrook in the South.
Our grapes are grown in a valley within a valley, with the topography of the farm forming a cosy basin, where our vineyard was first planted in 1997. The Northerly aspect allows for rich flavours to develop in our wines, coupled with our warm summers and gentle easterly breezes which help to ripen the crop leading up to harvest. All of our wine is a celebration of the valley basin on the property where it is lovingly grown and tended throughout each vintage.
We have been working hard over the past few years to diversify the range of wines that we offer and have spent the last two summers planting and grafting new varieties in the vineyard. Previous owner Jeff Ovens made the decision 5 years ago to convert some of the Sauvignon Blanc to Tempranillo, which has been successfully grown in the Ferguson Valley by other growers in recent years with wide success. This was achieved by cutting back five rows of the Sauvignon Blanc vines and grafting the new budwood onto the established trunks of the older vines. Last year, we chose to graft an additional 480 Tempranillo vines using this same method onto an additional 3 rows. These 'babies', as we like to call them have thrived and produced their first rather heavy crop this year which in typical fashion for the Temp style, presented us with big fat luscious juicy berries. The Ferguson Valley is well known for producing excellent quality Tempranillo, which is becoming a flagship for the Valley.
Last summer, we also removed 600 Verdelho vines due to their waning prductivity in recent years and planted Vermentino rootlings in their place. These were trained onto wire from December to April and have thankfully grown well with good root establishment and low losses from the intial planting. Vermentino was chosen over other options because of it's delicate easy drinking style and because it has been showing promise in other regions in Australia that experience similar warm climates such as in the Adelaide Hills in SA. We also felt that in a drying climate, the need to strategically select grape varieties for their ability to withstand low rainfall and higher temperatures was an important factor.
This winter we have also cut a further 8 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon cordons back in readiness for our next adventure this spring and summer, which will involve grafting two new Italian red varieties. With the help of grafting contractors we plan to add Montecpuciano and Nerod'Avolato the mix. These two very hardy and climate resilient varieties are some of the most popularly grown and consumed wines in Italy. We are very excited to be undertaking this new chapter of evolving the Vineyard at Hackersley Estate. The aim of which is to further enhance the boutique wine varietal offerings of the Ferguson Valley. Our goal is to be able to offer our customers an opportunity to share in exploring new boutique varieties of wine in a simply stunning location, here in the South West of Western Australia. Call us or drop into the restaurant cellar door to ask about our limited and exclusive range of wines that we reserve for direct sales only.
