Jamieson River Vineyard is on the Licola Road, 3 kms east of the beautiful township of Jamieson – Neville Shute’s idea of the best place to wait for the end of the world. The 5 acres of vines are a thousand feet above sea level, on a gently-sloping north-facing river terrace.
The vineyard is divided into three parts by dramatic variations in soil. A headache when the vines were first planted, with the passage of time this has turned into an advantage
since – Pinot possessing to an astonishing degree the ability to transmit the characteristics of its terroir – it adds greatly to the interest and complexity of the resulting wine.
The zone closest to the river has five feet of well-drained, fertile river loam overlying gravel. Vines planted in this area grow vigorously and require brutal shoot thinning and bunch reduction. The next section is the most problematic. Nine inches below the ground, sandy gravel gives way to a layer of impermeable yellow-grey clay; waterlogged in winter and (since the installation of essential aggie-pipes) biscuit-dry in summer. A harsh environment in which to establish young vines, though once their roots force through the clay they encounter a loose, gravelly subsoil with abundant water. The uppermost zone, which is also the steepest, is the easiest from my point of view. The Wine God loves hills, the Romans used to say and here a foot and a half of iron-rich sandy silt underlain by fifteen feet of silty gravel provides a soil of moderate fertility where vines do well and are easy to manage.
In 2001 when I set the vineyard out, extensive testing demonstrated high soil acidity with minor nutrient deficiencies in specific sections. The application of 
generous quantities of lime brought the pH up to around 6, though potassium and phosphate levels were deliberately left on the low side in the hope this would restrain excessive vigour and high berry potassium content.
After the soil had been deep-ripped, the close-planted vines were orientated north-south at row intervals of 2.25 metres. Vertical shoot positioning with a cordon at 1.1 metres and a clear undervine strip (this is a frost-prone area) have been employed, and highly efficient drip irrigation can be delivered.
All vines are grafted on phylloxera-resistant rootstocks and for the scions three Dijon clones, 114, 115 and 777, and the (notionally) Australian vigorous and reliable MV6 clone were selected.
