About Geoff
South Australian winemaker and artist Geoff Weaver
I’m a South Australian winemaker and artist proud to care for a 12-hectare Lenswood vineyard. My father and I first planted grapes on the site in 1982, when the Adelaide Hills was best known for stone fruit and apples. I saw its potential for cool-climate wines and find great joy in continuing to produce them.
My career began back in 1972, working in Orlando’s Barossa cellar. I studied oenology at Roseworthy College and returned to make wine at Orlando before joining Hardys in 1976. I produced white wine for Hardys until 1987, then became chief winemaker for the Hardys Group until 1992 and worked with about 10 per cent of Australia’s grapes.
On leaving Hardys I relished the chance to focus entirely on our Lenswood property and its plantings of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. One simple thought drives my winemaking: to grow grapes of excellence in a site carefully chosen to suit its varieties.
MY PHILOSOPHY
“Since discovering oenology and starting to make wine I’ve believed that flavour frontiers lay in the vineyard and the path to fine wine begins there.”
Our Wines
Our wines are known for their fine, delicate flavours. Crisp and nuanced, they’ve received acclaim including multiple inclusions in the James Halliday top 100. We are a five red star winery, Halliday’s highest accolade. Fully ripe grapes are hand-picked, with low yields and consistently high quality.
The Vineyard
Our vineyard lies high – about 500 to 550 metres above sea level – in the Adelaide Hills near Lenswood in South Australia.
Vines on our site grow in ancient soils with low natural fertility and ample cold air drainage, ensuring their flavour-producing metabolism is not restricted. With average rainfall of 1134mm, irrigation is rarely required and the vines have a steady but restricted water supply to nourish them.
Canopy lifting is used to help light reach the grapes. Hand pruning allows close control of crop level and foliage density, crucial in cool vineyard areas. All efforts are directed to cultivating fine flavour in the grapes. Each season brings further maturity to the vines and continued refinement of our methods.