Article Index
Grancari Estate Wines
Background
Getting into viticulture
Getting into organics
Getting into winemaking
Getting into the market for organic wine
In the vineyard
All Pages

Grancari Estates is one of my favourite organic vineyards, and not only because I am particularly fond of old vine Grenache. Grancari Estates is located in the Onkaparinga Hills, south of Adelaide and just north of the McLaren Vale wine district. The vineyard has views out towards Port Noarlunga and north along the coast. It is neatly hedged with native trees, and laced throughout with occasional olives, persimmon and other fruit trees.

There is also a wonderful sense of ‘can do’ about the owners, Rino and Greta Ozzella. In four or five years immediately after I first met them, they transformed from novice organic viticulturists and start-out winemakers, to very competent self-trained operators. Their self-sufficient attitude and approach is reflected in the well-supplied home garden and orchard, and they approach small and large jobs, such as the construction of a sizable storage shed, with apparent ease.

At Grancari Estate, a long history of small scale farming in two cultures, the native soil properties, an organic approach to growing, the north-easterly exposure, and the maritime climate, combine to produce unique fruit qualities, and an excellent, full flavoured wine.

Background

Rino Ozzella was born about 40 km south of Naples, where his parents farmed 5 or 6 acres of intensively cultivated land. Intensive cultivation in Italy reaches a level of diversity and output few Australians have witnessed, unless they have traveled to Italy. Crops were organized into three layers. Vegetables and cereals made up the lowest layer, between rows of vines that were grown to a height of several metres or more. Walnuts and chestnuts spread over the top. Wheat and barley could be grown during the dormant season, and were harvested before the vines and trees reached full canopy expansion. Rino says “they used the ground very well, and even built the houses on hilltops or rocky ground, that was not usable for horticulture.”

Rino came to Australia in 1956, and he says he “went to work the next day.”

Greta grew up on a small mixed farm in the mid-north of SA, around Stone Hut and Wirrabra, on the Rocky River. Her father kept dairy cattle and produced some vegetables for market and home use, and kept vines and a small orchard.

By hard work and saving, Rino and Greta were able to acquire some property, initially at Kuitpo Forest, in the Adelaide Hills. Here they planted Mediterranean fruits, from Rino’s heritage, such as walnuts, chestnuts and persimmon, and they planted proteas. They were also licensed to pick Ixodia, otherwise known as “Hills Daisy”, from government and forestry land nearby. They moved on from this property after they were burnt out in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983.

Getting into viticulture

It was at this stage that they purchased the land at Onkaparinga Hills. It had a neglected Grenache plantation, which was infested with olives. The property also had no access, but by this time Rino had established himself in a concreting business, and had the knowledge and equipment to build an access road, including laying three one metre diameter pipes to cross a deep gully. Since that time, the area has been developed considerably, and access is now from another direction, through steel gates that Rino Made, and which are featured on the Grancari Estate wine label.

Greta admits to hating the grapes at this stage. They were a lot of work to restore, and returned only $100 per tonne, but she says, “The gradual price increase and the exciting possibilities for the fruit have changed that”.

George Cox originally planted the vines, in the early 1940’s. The 6-acre patch of Grenache was grown as bush vines, with flood irrigation and very low trellising. The early harvests were sold to the Emu winery, one of the first large wine producers in the district. Greta says, “George enjoyed a visit back to his old vineyard when he was 89 years old.”

“The vines were so neglected in 1983”, said Greta, “that there had even been an old horse roaming the block”. One area was so overgrown with olives that Rino pushed out 3 rows of vines and replanted with Shiraz, and in other areas chains were used to remove wild olives.”

The Shiraz patch was completed in 1996.

In 1993 Rino and Greta purchased two blocks in the Riverland, at Loxton North. They were about three kilometers apart, and were planted with vines, citrus and apricots. Rino found the spread of work from these crops too much, especially as he and Greta have developed a habit of spending several months per year fossicking in the goldfields of WA. He says “I couldn’t leave the citrus in the winter, and we realized that we were too spread out between the various blocks, so we sold the Riverland and concentrated on the home property.”

Getting into organics

Rinos says “that’s when we got really interested in organics. We new we couldn’t do it in the Riverland. It was just too much work, too spread out, and we were over run with work. When I came here, I knew I didn’t like sprays. Actually even in the Riverland, we mainly used copper and sulphur, and only occasionally when we had a problem, we would get someone in to spray with something else.”

“Even this property was never sprayed until 1994, not even with copper and sulphur. It wasn’t worth enough to spray, so we just took the harvest we got. There was only one year when we didn’t pick anything. That was 1993, which was a devastating year for all grape growers in the district.”

Both Rino and Greta say they learnt a lot of useful ideas from the Riverland experience, and developed the confidence to forge ahead with the vineyard at Onkaparinga Hills. Rino says “especially I learnt the importance of protective sprays. Before we had not sprayed at all, but the crop was affected. When it came to harvest, most of the leaves would already be on the ground, so the plant was not feeding properly and that changes the character of the juice. For the last 4 years, I have sprayed organic fungicides 5 or 6 times per year, to keep the leaves healthy.”

A feature of the property is the Mediterranean plantings. Olive hedges and assorted fruit trees dot the property. A variety of pome and stone fruit, citrus, figs, chestnuts, walnuts, macadamias, assorted oddments like avocados and exotic fruit such as medlars are distributed in the orchard, but also here and there throughout the vineyard. Persimmons are the most common fruit, after olives. They are ripening at the time of the grape harvest, and their brilliant orange colour stands out against the dark green vine foliage. Nearly 40 persimmon trees have been planted, for the home table.

At first the grapes were sold to other wineries, and some was made into wine for the Grancari Estate label, by winemakers Kevin O’Brien and Michael Brown.

Getting into winemaking

Rino and Greta gradually developed an interest in making wine from their own fruit, and set about learning how to do it. They attended two TAFE courses in wine tasting and appreciation, and then a sixteen week wine making course at Urrbrae Agricultural High School. They then purchased some equipment and made a half-tonne batch, and with some direction from and Michael Brown. The following year, with a glut of grapes on the market, they took the bold step of deciding to process the entire crop themselves.

Greta says, “It was a big jump. We were going to try seven tonnes, but because of the glut, we decided to do the lot. The first two years after taking on the winemaking we picked so much fruit, much more than an average year.”

But Rino and Greta have learnt so much about their fruit in the process, and they are really pleased with what they have discovered.”

Greta says, “We made an effort to read from books and found a lot of information on the internet, especially about the Grenache, because we did not know much about the history of this variety. We now know that we have very good fruit potential, and a lot of similarity to some wine producing areas in France, where Grenache is often the main variety used in the more famous wines.”

“Initial positive response from our wine distributors bolstered our confidence with our ability in making wine.”

“We then started using James Hastwell, a local winemaker, as our consultant. He has the advantage of experience of many vintages, and has been extremely helpful with all aspects of the winemaking.”

Getting into the market for organic wine

Rino and Greta have recently sent their first container of wine to China, building upon several smaller shipments. They are confident that they have built a solid relationship and are hopeful of a long-term market developing with their Chinese partner. They say, “We are just as well off processing the wine ourselves as receiving the low price they would have got from a conventional contract, and want to see how the wine develops.”

They have also recently produced organic wine made with minimal suplhur for a specific market. Greta says, “We were pleased to learn that with our pH so good, the requirement for sulphur is much less, although we recommend it as a non-keeping wine.”

“We have also produced the cheeky wombat label, which is a bit more fun, and attracts a different part of the market.”

Greta says, “We are only a small boutique producer. We employ pickers and pruners but mostly there are the two of us, and our daughter helps several days per week with the bookwork. We have just felt our way through with the marketing. We don’t want to be attending a cellar door sales outlet fulltime either, although we are happy to accept tours or buses by arrangement.”

In the vineyard

The vineyard management system is based on cultivation after harvest, and green manures, mainly faba beans and triticale, alternated from year to year. Rino is very happy with this method, and the BFA certified Neutrog fertiliser. Weeds under the vine are managed with a dodger plough, which is used carefully and infrequently and is followed up with some hand control. Rino says, “The place looks a little untidy, but I am comfortable with that, and happy to minimise cultivations.”

“That’s what the organic system is about. We take a little, and give a little back, especially to the soil. It just takes a little effort to get results, and the juice gets better. We have learnt just how good our fruit is from our winemaking process.”

Greta says, “I think there are three factors to our fruit quality. One is the land, including the soil and climate. Another is the organic methods, and the other is the water we use, which is treated with a Hydrosmart conditioner, which alters the molecules in the bore water and helps prevent calcium deposits from forming.”