The story of Coal Valley Vineyard began with a passion for wine. After years of travelling and working around the world in their professional careers of biology and chemical engineering, Todd Goebel and Gill Christian were ready to get their hands dirty and realize a long held dream. Tasmania was developing a reputation as Australia’s premier Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sparkling wine producing area and this vineyard was already winning gold medals at the local wine shows for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. Fifteen years later, Todd and Gill are proud of what they produce and love what they do. They enjoy their work in the vineyard, making good wine and the sharing the finished product!
Todd and Gill are focused on and passionate about, producing small quantities of high quality, cool climate wines. Sustainable agriculture is important and dictates their viticultural management techniques. In the vineyard, Todd and Gill hand prune and shoot thin each vine as they aim for perfection. All grapes are hand picked and hand selected off the vines to produce single site Coal Valley vintages. The aim is to deliver top quality wines from a truly world class, cool climate site. Wines which reflect the unique terroir of Coal River Valley and represent a satisfying experience with every sip.
With about 17,000 vines to individually hand prune, it's immensely gratifying to look back with a sense of accomplishment when the job is done. Cane pruning means pulling out everything that was growing the previous year, except one cane, tying it down to the wire for the next season's canes to grow out. The cuttings are dropped on the ground and then mulched to send all that energy back into the soil.
Organic fertiliser and soil conditioners are spread amongst the vines, it's then time to sit back and wait for new green growth to appear, as it always does, in the first week of September. Throughout veraison and the ripening of fruit, Todd and Gill try to find time to meander through their protea garden and enjoy beautiful panoramic views out over the vineyard, looking across to the Coal River estuary below, Pittwater and Barilla Bay.
