GEMTREE

When you live in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia, which also happens to be one of its most celebrated winemaking districts, it must be tempting to put your feet up and do things the easy way. For vignerons Melissa and Mike Brown, owners of McLaren Vale’s Gemtree Wines, any such temptation seems to have been wholly avoided. Instead, they have taken the stance that they are blessed to live and make wine where they do, and have shouldered the weighty responsibility for the custodianship of their land.

Melissa’s parents planted their vines in McLaren Vale in 1980. Some fourteen years later Melissa, fresh faced from travel and studies, asked to work in the vineyard. She has been there ever since, learning the ropes of viticulture, organics and biodynamics, with her husband Mike taking care of the winemaking and business sides of the venture.

The vineyards themselves have been certified organic since 2011, after Mike and Melissa extended their organic fruit and vege gardening habits to encompass all 100+ hectares of vines as well. Not content with just that extra level of difficulty in pursuit of finer flavours and healthier lands, the pair also experimented with and ultimately implemented biodynamic practices across their vineyards and winemaking.

That singular passion for sustainability and environmental friendliness is truly holistic and a key part of all operations at Gemtree. From the tasting room, which is solar powered and utilises rain as its exclusive water source, through to the labels on the wine bottles, which are made from recycled sugar cane waste, no stone has been left unturned in an effort to be energy neutral.

On parts of the property not devoted to vines Melissa and Mike have established the Gemtree Eco Trail, a ten-hectare piece of South Australian heaven where previously barren land has been replanted with tens of thousands of native trees and shrubs.

The wines themselves sing of their special place. Classically McLaren Vale, fresh, structured and oozing balanced intensity.