Located on the cusp of Marananga and Greenock, the establishment of Utopos Vineyard began in 1974 on a bed of lean and depleted stoney soils that significantly limits yield. This outstanding geology allows us to grow cracking concentrated yet balanced grapes on these shallow, ancient soils – fruit that was traditionally sent to the corporate end of town, where the small crop of coveted fruit oft found its way into their icon wines. A hallmark of the Utopos Vineyard on Roennfeldt Road is the pitch perfect acid/ tannin balance we can achieve in fully ripened fruit. This provides for delicious, highly approachable wines in their youth, whilst enabling them to develop over a 10-15 year period, and maybe more.

Planted to Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mataro, we’re focusing on those varietals the Barossa Valley grows best and is widely renowned for. The Utopos wines are distinctly Barossan with the depth and concentration that you expect from Marananga and Greenock but have that site driven savoury balance that I always long for.

We have named the vineyard UTOPOS, the root word of utopia. Perhaps it means Eutopos – a good and perfect place. I figure that this is what we are all often chasing – the dream of another world far removed from the day to day grind. Or perhaps it means Outopos – a place that cannot be, one that is just out of reach. Often what people find at the end of their journey in this game. I’m pretty confident that we’ve found Eutopos not Outopos…

In keeping with our ideals, our range of wines is succinct and produced solely from fruit grown on our Utopos Vineyard.

The Utopos vineyard on Roennfeldt Road on the Barossa Valley’s western edge is, to my mind, an almost impossibly perfect place to craft red wines. Wines of a character that define this region as one of the world’s great wine places. Deeply coloured and rich in flavour, with firm lines of fine tannin that promise reward for patient cellaring over a decade or more.

Located at one of the highest points in the Barossa Valley, the vineyard traverses an undulating landscape of thinly veiled sandy loam topsoils intersected by an assortment of ancient iron, quartz, marble and blue stone. Fractious sub-surface clays capture winter rains to sustain vine health through the long, warm and dry summer. Subtle changes of elevation promote gentle afternoon breezes that snake through the canopies cooling the crop to lengthen ripening and promote retention of natural acids. A viticultural eco-system that produces low yields of small flavour-packed berries and wines of great flavour purity.

My approach to making each wine under the Utopos label is uncompromising in the extreme. An ethos inspired by the great single vineyard wines of our times. Reliant only on selections of the very best fruit from the vineyard, handled in small batches in the winery, and subject to ongoing classifications through the near 2-year barrel maturation program, and then again just prior to bottling, a final selection of only those wines to be reserved for limited bottlings that truly represent the ultimate expression of site and variety.

An extremely fortunate benefit born out of my pursuit of excellence for the Utopos wines has been the inception of the Common Ground project. Each wine in this new range is entirely true to the character of that site yet eminently more approachable in youth. Mirroring the flavour intensity and fruit purity of the grand marque wines, but more plush and with supple lines of soft tannin that invite immediate enjoyment.

Unbridled by the strict covenants imposed on the single site Utopos wines, I can work with fruit from other vineyard sites in the region that share similar characteristics. This helps to promote the bright pure flavours and plush palate profile I’m pursuing with these wines.

Hence the name. Common Ground.