our WINE

The vineyard’s aspect is directly due south on a rolling slope. This enables any cold air to gently flow to the valley floor, providing a frost-free environment in which the vines flourish. Our fertile clay-loam soil drains freely through the subsoil into a stream that runs along the southern boundary of the vineyard. Planted at a low vine density, Castlewood’s three-metre row widths help prevent row-to-row shading. As the sun reaches its summer heights the vineyard achieves maximum sunlight hours. Close grass cover manicured throughout the year not only aids soil structure but also prevents soil erosion during the winter months.

Harvest is dictated by a combination of grape quality, ripeness and weather conditions. This is always the most thrilling period of the vineyard year, but we always have to remember that while you can make bad wine from good grapes, you can’t make good wine from bad grapes.

Once the grapes are picked, they are transported for only a matter of minutes back to the winery. Due to proximity, grapes can be sorted and into the press within the hour. Many large vineyards experience varied delays between picking and pressing, this leads to problems with oxidation of the grapes in transit. We strive to press an exceedingly fresh juice, after cold settling our must is transferred to both stainless steel and barrels, this provides an advantageous start for the wine making process.

We believe in the Castlewood philosophy of quality not quantity and that less is more. Our wines undergo no filtration nor do we use any fining chemicals. Due to our small scale production we can leave the wines to clarify naturally.

We bottle without the use of pumps, using gravity only; This helps to protect the wine and reduce the amount of oxygen exposure.