Vineyard of the Year 2025 – Young Gun of Wine

Grosset Springvale Vineyard wins ‘Vineyard of the Year’ 2025 – Young Gun of Wine

We are so proud to win this award...

'At the 6th Annual Vineyard of the Year Awards, the Vineyard of the Year award goes to Jeffrey Grosset and Matthew O'Rourke for the Grosset Springvale Vineyard in the Clare Valley, South Australia.
 
A 6.12-hectare site planted to riesling in the Clare's Watervale district. One variety. Three clones. Five blocks. And a geological secret that wasn't fully understood until after the vines were in the ground. Springvale sits above a layer of blue slate - a barrier to vine roots that concentrates mineral uptake into a more defined profile, and imparts a persistence and character that distinguishes these wines from even the finest Watervale rieslings. Certified organic since 2014, and biodynamic since 2019, the vineyard is currently managed by Matthew O'Rourke - who has tended this site since 2011 - with every precision operation done by hand. It's not just about rare subsoils and a diligent approach to tending the vineyard, though. Organic carbon levels in the soil have tripled since the vineyard's establishment. Water use is down 30 per cent thanks to a technologically focused and forward thinking irrigation program. The vines show measurably less heat stress... More than 8,000 native trees and shrubs now surround the vines. The whole operation is certified carbon-negative, sequestering approximately 15 tonnes of COz annually. "The Springvale fruit has developed a silky texture that wasn't noticed in the first decade," Jeffrey Grosset says. "The vines are expressing their environment in ways they weren't 20 years ago." Being able to observe and respond to these changes - while also safeguarding the vines for the future - is what patient, considered stewardship looks like over time. And this kind of relationship to the place in which wine is grown is exactly what the Vineyard of the Year Awards exists to celebrate.'  Rory Kent, Young Gun of Wine