THE OAKS VINEYARD
Brancott Valley
The Oaks Vineyard
The Heart of Novum
Of all our vineyards, The Oaks is the one that most reflects who we are and what we are building.
The Oaks is the heart of Novum – where we live as a family, intimately connected to the changing seasons, climate, and the kingfishers, ducks and bees that live alongside us. Ours is an intergenerational piece of land, and our perspective is always long-term. It's why the Oaks Vineyard is aptly named
– William's desire to plant hundreds of oak trees around the vineyard, particularly around the wildlife pond, speaks to exactly that ethos.
When you live amongst a vineyard you become naturally conscious of everything within it – the people who work it, the sprays applied, the tractors moving through the rows.
Any spray drift could land on our children's trampoline. This awareness runs deep across all of our vineyards and informs every decision we make.
The Oaks Vineyard
Our One Acre Obsession
We planted 1 acre of Syrah vines 7 years ago with the express desire to make a truly great Syrah. This is no small undertaking. We put together 20 years’ worth of learnings on soil type, root stock, row spacings, canopy management, pruning techniques, and winemaking into the development of this one acre of vineyard.
The resulting vineyard stands out – it’s different from every vineyard around it.
Extremely close-planted at just 1.4 by 1.5 metres, with 5,600 plants per HA, with the fruiting wire sitting only 500 millimetres off the ground to achieve optimum effect from the radiated ground heat.
Planted amongst the Syrah vines are Viognier plants (3%), which are a traditional varietal mix used in select parts of the Rhône Valley to add mid-palate weight and fix colour when co-fermented with Syrah.
