Soil/Dry Grown

The soil structure is typical of Margaret River. With an average of 1.5m of gravely-loam and a thick layer of clay below that, the nutrient roots find what they need in the top layers without picking up excess water. The tap root gets all the moisture it needs from the saturated clay below. The dripper irrigation system used for the establishment of the vineyard is now used only in the event of an unusually hot summer.

Cover Crop

We plant a cover crop between the rows which has several uses. It holds the soil during the heavy winter rains and provides a very effective wind break for the fragile new spring shoots. Come summer, we slash the crop to provide natural mulch which breaks down to provide natural nutrients. The cover crop also suppresses weeds which avoids chemical control.

Crop Thinning

We control the potential yields during the winter with extensive hand pruning. Some years this requires further control by crop thinning at veraison, just before the grapes start to ripen, thus controlling the eventual yields and increasing character intensity.

Bird Netting

Although birds are plentiful due to the surrounding National Park and the bird attracting natives planted within the property, covering the whole vineyard with netting ensures no damage to the fruit. We pick the grapes exactly when we want to, achieving perfect ripeness and more so the desired flavours and characters.

Canopy Management

The canopy is managed with four foliage wires, lifting the growing shoots into a vertical position which better exposes the bunches to the sun. We then pluck off selected leaves as required. We aim for a dense upper canopy with a sparse lower section where the grapes grow ensuring good air-flow to reduce the risk of disease.

Guinea Fowls

No chemical pesticides are used. We have a team of Guinea Fowls that permanently scan the ground for unwanted bugs - very effective and completely natural.

New French Oak

We buy fine new barrels every year. We research which gives the best results for each wine style, including the forests the oak comes from and the cooper's treatment of the barrels. French oak is our preferred choice due to the finer grain.

Estate Grown

The grapes come from the Estate. A 100% certainty of the quality of the grapes ensures our individual Eagle Vale character.

Winemaking Techniques

Our winemaking incorporates latest technology with traditional techniques. Each wine style is hand crafted individually. Although labour intensive, the wines are unique without loosing typical varietal and regional characteristics due to techniques such as barrel fermentation, lees sharing between wines, weekly stirring and racking of the wines together several times during maturation. The use of particular yeasts, specific temperature fermentation, varied skin contact and minimal filtration are also contributing factors.