Selected and planted by Jeffrey in 1996, our eight-hectare Polish Hill vineyard embodies the philosophy that struggle creates character. This gently sloping A-Grade Certified Organic and Biodynamic site sits on 500-million-year-old blue slate—ancient bedrock that makes every vine fight for survival.

The thin layers of silt and shallow shales over clay and gravel provide just enough soil to sustain life, but barely. This is what Jeffrey calls a “hard rock” site, where vines must work desperately to draw nutrients from reluctant earth. The result? Small bunches, tiny berries, and flavors that seem to echo through geological time.

“A major challenge of this site is the variability in vigor from one vine to the next,” Jeffrey explains. “This demands intense hand-tending skill—varied to suit each vine—to achieve balanced growth and even ripening.” It’s vineyard work at its most demanding and rewarding.

Our three riesling clones—two German and one rare local variety—are relatively close-planted, each producing just two bottles of wine per vine. This extreme site exemplifies how ancient geology shapes wine character, creating our most distinctive and lingering expression of place.

Here, the earth teaches patience. The vines learn resilience. The wine captures both lessons in every glass.