Pepper Tree Vineyards

At Pepper Tree, we pride ourselves on growing grapes in some of Australia’s best winemaking regions. The climates and soils of our four vineyards create unique flavours in the wines they produce. This, coupled with the passion and science our people bring to the process, mean we’ve become one of Australia’s most highly awarded wine companies. Since the Hunter Valley estate was founded in 1991, our commitment to producing excellent wines has never wavered. As we’ve added vineyards beyond our original home in the Valley, we’ve applied the same stringent conditions to finding the perfect land every time. Our properties in the Hunter Valley, Orange, Wrattonbully and Coonawarra all bring unique personalities to the family. We bring together four provenances under one passion. From our home to yours, we bring you the best of four worlds.

The Hunter Valley

The heart and soil of Pepper Tree, the Hunter Valley provides grapes for some of our most loved wines. It’s one of Australia’s oldest wine regions with vineyards planted back in the 1830’s. Today its famed for two celebrated styles, Semillon and Shiraz both of which we focus on to make wines that reflect the region.
With a warm climate that enjoys high temperatures in the summer the region benefits from coastal breezes that give the vines some relief from the heat. As well as Semillon and Shiraz the Hunter also produces Chardonnay and Verdelho and increasingly the region is now being planted to alternative varieties better suited to the climate.

"I chose the hunter valley because of its suitability to grow grapes. The combination of red soils over limestone has helped create some of our best wines."

- John Davis

Orange

The cool climate of Orange provides the fruit for some of our outstanding single vineyard whites at Pepper Tree. Due to its high altitude, diversity of elevation, climate and topography it offers vineyard sites the suitability to grow whites like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay. About 270km west of Sydney, the vineyard soils are dominated by the extinct volcano Mt Canobolas with the highest vines planted at 11oom above sea level.
The Pepper Tree Orange vineyard is located in the Boree Lane area 12 kms west of Orange on the midslopes of Mt Canobolas. The vineyard site sits in a small subvalley protected on 3 sides with a sunny northerly aspect. Elevations vary from 740m to 800m and the site is capable of ripening all the main red varieties as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

In Orange Wines typically have a lighter more elegant structure than those of warmer areas with light lifted fruit acids lengthening the palate. Chardonnay is the main white variety on the vineyard and as in other parts of the Orange region produces wine of very high quality.

Wrattonbully

It’s probably the least well-known region of the Limestone Coast and South Australia yet it’s the site that Pepper Tree sees as having the most potential. It adjoins Coonawarra in the southern part of the Limestone Coast. Made up of beach ridges and dunes the area is primarily covered in crumbly Limestone which over time breaks down to produce the distinctive red clay loam soils or ‘terra rossa’ that is so prized in the region.
The extra elevation in Wrattonbully due to the dunes allows for cold air drainage and reduces the risk of frost during the growing season. The cooler climate ensures good conditions to grow Cabernet and Merlot. Shiraz also prospers with high sugar and flavour levels yet producing wines with cool climate characters that are uncharacteristic for warmer climes. Wrattonbully also produces Chardonnay of distinction and flavour.

Wrattonbully is still a nascent region with most vines only twenty years old, yet the potential shown from these young vines hints at an extraordinary future and are sure to rival neighbouring Coonawarra.

Coonawarra

The region is long and thin and shaped like a cigar but it’s all focussed around a long strip of ‘terra rossa’ soil over a limestone ridge that is famed for making wines that are regionally distinctive. Our Coonawarra vineyards comprise 8h of Cabernet and 4ha of Merlot located midway between Penola and Coonawarra.
Soils in this area consist of dark brown and grey clays interspersed with limestone fragments, The shallow soil overlies soft crumbly limestone at depths of as little as 10cm so that the vines effectively grow in limestone rock.

Coonawarra - Responsible for some of Australia’s and South Australia’s most distinctive and long- lived Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra is another essential piece of the jigsaw for Pepper Tree.

The roots run deep.

From the cellar door to the wine club, there's one thing our staff have in common; we all love wine!

Meet the team