Hot on the back of the recent Young Gun of Wine ‘Top Vineyards’ announcements, Stockman’s Ridge owner and vigneron Jonathan Hambrook has released his 2023 Stockman’s Ridge ‘Rider’ Pinot Gris and 2023 Stockman’s Ridge Primrosé.
The Young Gun of Wine awards have listed their ‘Top Vineyards’ finalists and the Stockman’s Ridge vineyard was one of seven NSW vineyards to be included.
“It was a lovely surprise to be named in this Young Guns of Wine list,” says Jonathan. “We planted this vineyard in Orange in 2012, so it’s relatively young. It is a work in progress, with more vines being planted in the past few years.
“When we established Stockman’s Ridge it was always about growing the grapes. I didn’t want to buy an existing vineyard, but rather start from scratch, and make my own mistakes.” Having a background in information technology innovation, ‘tech’ was always going to play a pivotal role. This includes automated watering, soil moisture monitoring and other automated systems.
“We have several practices and measures in place to ensure that we improve the sustainability and regenerative abilities of the property. When we purchased the property the organic cardon was very low, around 1.2 percent. By 2022 we’d increased it to 3.8 percent, with the aim to achieve around 4 to 6 percent. This will vastly improve the soil’s health and moisture holding capabilities and therefore build drought resilience.”
The two new wines include the 2023 Stockman’s Ridge Primrosé. This is a wine made from 100 percent Shiraz. A component was fermented with wild yeast, with other components matured for up to eight months in seasoned French oak (with minimal stirring) to build complexity and texture. With oxidative handling, the wine was blended and bottled with the objective of showcasing the cool climate Shiraz textural freshness.
The 2023 Stockman’s Ridge ‘Rider’ Pinot Gris is a blend of several components. A portion was fermented in stainless steel, the pressings fermented separately with wild yeast and a portion of free run juice transferred straight to French oak with regular lees stirring.
“Our winemaker Will Rikard-Bell and I wanted to experiment and give ourselves options when it came to blending. Pinot Gris can often be one dimensional, so it was important to have these winemaking options to give the wine more structure and texture to complement the region’s beautiful acidity and flavours.”