The thrill for me of making wine at Gibbston Valley is that we have an unwavering focus on quality.  The history and pedigree of the place demands it, with an awesome track record of winemaking excellence. 

Christopher Keyes

Our advantage is a fundamental one - we have the right grapes planted in the right areas, and full control of our vineyards.  This allows us to be uncompromising in our viticultural practices, meaning we harvest grapes with fantastic depth of flavour, complexity and purity.

In the winery, working with consistently clean, ripe fruit gives great scope to shape the wine.  For some varieties this is simply a matter of ushering the flavours of the fruit into the bottle:  one sip of our riesling and you will understand - an amazing clarity that speaks of the clean air, warm days and cool nights of Bendigo.  For other varieties such as pinot noir, a myriad of options exist.  Anything done, from the percentage of whole clusters used, to fermentation temperature, to extraction techniques, will imprint itself on the wine.  Winemaking becomes a delicate balance between intervention and hands off observation.

Overall, it is important to make wine sensitively; in a way that foregrounds the true character of the area.  For Gibbston Valley Wines there certainly is room for power, richness and ripeness - who doesn't like these hedonistic attributes? - but not at the expense of finesse, subtlety, and nuance.  A wine can be like a fragile small bird caught in your hands - you do not want a grizzly bear as your winemaker in this case.

For me, the very exciting thing is that the infrastructure here is established to maintain and indeed constantly improve our wines. 

Enjoy.

... Christopher Keys, Winemaker, Gibbston Valley Wines