GAELIC CEMETERY

Gaelic Cemetery crafts small volumes of super premium Clare Valley wines that reflect the variety, vintage and uniqueness of the place. The Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard itself was established in 1996 on a parcel of land immediately adjacent to the historic Gaelic Cemetery approximately five kilometres due north of the Clare township – hence the name.

Shiraz and Riesling cuttings were sourced from the Pikes Aio and C2 blocks at Polish Hill River in 1995 and planted out in 1996 on some gently sloping, East facing land at White Hut tucked in behind the hills that overlook Stanley Flat.  Subsequent smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec followed the initial vineyard development. After a couple of early vintages from the very young vines, it soon became quite evident that the soils and aspect of the vineyard were ideally suited to the growing of extremely low vigour/ low yielding vines, delivering fruit packed with concentrated flavour and firm textures. Over the first 10 years the crop level has averaged a tiny 1.9 tonnes/acre. This vineyard is always one of the earliest ripening Shiraz and Riesling vineyards in the Clare region and mystifyingly produces fruit with a pH/ acid analysis that are usually exemplary. There is no issue in achieving full fruit maturity.

Vigneron Tony Marshall’s aim is to run the Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard as sustainably as possible. Minimal use of water for irrigation, under the vine mulching to reduce moisture loss, mid row cover cropping to encourage microbial activity in the soils and using only organic based fungicides/ pesticides are just some of the measure undertaken and all part of the mantra in the vineyard.

The Gaelic Cemetery wines themselves are packaged using fully recyclable materials including the bottles, corks, screw caps and cartons that are used.