Set in Basket Range, South Australia, a series of hills located west of the city of Adelaide, Lucy Margaux Vineyards is one of a small group of farms surrounded by untouched wilderness. LMV enjoys the mild humid influences of the ocean however, at 500 meters above sea level the region is cool and grows quality Pinot Noir.
LMV currently has 10 acres of Pinot Noir planted on 4 different aspects. The row spacing is 2.4m and the inter-vine spacing is 1.5m. The vines are cane pruned and the cordon height is 50 cm, which allows the fruit to ripen evenly from the warmth of the earth.
The vineyard is dry grown and 100% biodynamic, which means the land has never seen fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or any other chemical spray.
Our Winemaking
We aim to produce wines that express themselves. To achieve this at the highest level I would never consider adding yeast, bacteria, acid, sugar or any of the other artificial or natural additives.
It still seems wrong to me to be adding fish’s bladders or any of the bizarre options. A winemaker can choose to be an artist or chemist, while some people can’t help but add, mix and analyse wine as if they are producing a concoction in a laboratory. I believe that winemaking is a craft, all our decisions are made with the aid of a Riddell glass and traditional skills with the aim of developing wines with true identify.
Our wines are naturally fermented, without any adulteration. We do not use the bag of winemaking tricks that most wineries do (acid, sugar, enzyme, plastic polymers, fish bladder, copper, gelatine, clay, etc.). All of our wines spend some time in oak barrels and we get a small amount of new French oak each year. We shave and toast our own barrels in the winery to suit each ferment. We do not pump the wine ever! Wine is only moved by gravity or pushed by inert gas (argon). All the wines are unfined, unfiltered (except the rosé as this may have a small amount of residual sugar). The wine only ever sees sulphur just prior to bottling; this is kept to a minium (60 ppm) to ensure that it is protected on the journeys to your cellar or glass.
