The gigantic dead red gum at the end of the rows of cabernet sauvignon vines at Grace Farm. Even though we place high conservation value on all of the native vegetation it is inevitable that free-standing gum trees will occasionally die due to historical disturbance of the bush under-story and the ensuing decline in biodiversity. The natural plant diversity in undisturbed forest is paramount for tree health because the suite of beneficial fungi and other microbes which keep tree roots healthy are most numerous when many different plants co-exist in the same area. This is one of the reasons that the Mair family have planted so many native seedlings on the Grace Farm property. It is a way of increasing...
Portrait of viticulturist Tim Quinlan in the vines, by Matt Sav. Over the summer we invited Matthew Saville aka Matt Sav down to Grace Farm with his various cameras and pieces of equipment. Matt is an old friend of George's who used to spend a lot of time down south with us during school holidays. Now, we are very excited as we watch Matt forge a promising career as a graphic designer, photographer, videographer and, at other times, a musician. Previously Matt's worked with local yet world famous bands such as Tame Impala, Pond and San Cisco while also being a co-founder of Hand Studio. Naturally, we were honoured to have Matt produce some work for us. The complete album of photos taken by Matt on...
On Saturday March 28 Grace Farm hosted a fundraiser for SurfAid at the home of the vineyard owners, John and Elizabeth Mair, in Perth. We are thrilled to announce that a total of just over $13,000 was raised for Surf Aid on the night. Over 100 people attended the event to show their support for this great charity which strives to improve mother-child health in remote Indonesia. Throughout the evening attendees could bid in the silent auction, purchase raffle tickets or buy donated products with all proceeds going to SurfAid. Guests were served Grace Farm wine along with beers donated by Young Henrys and Gage Roads Brewing Co. We had some friends and local musicians on stage performing during the evening including Oliver Quinlan (son of Grace Farm viticulturist Tim Quinlan) performing with his friend Danny. Paella...
"Surburban Defence League No 2" by Andy Quilty Grace Farm was delighted to have the opportunity to help sponsor the official opening of a new exhibition at the Margaret River Gallery on Easter Saturday, the 4th of April. The new premises on Charles West Avenue Margaret River is a beautiful, light and contemporary space in which to showcase local and national works. This weekend saw three artists showing together for the first time – Andy Quilty, Stephanie Reisch and Iain Dean. They bring their various skills of drawing, painting and ceramics together in a cross medium dialogue. We hope any of you who are in the Margaret River region over the next three weeks will support this exhibition which concludes on the 26th of...
Vintage 2015 has finished after a protracted season involving a variety of hurdles. Summer consisted of strong winds and hot dry days which involved careful management of the vine canopies to protect the delicate grapes from overexposure. Bird pressure was the highest in over a decade due to a lack of blossom on the native gum trees and subsequently the entire vineyard had to be netted to ward off potential crop loss. Finally, bursts of rain and lightning just prior to picking led to careful scheduling of harvest dates. Yields in the whites were lower than expected and hence the flavours were concentrated amongst fewer bunches. The reds were left to ripen for longer this year as we waited for...
