Dog Trap Vineyard

The first vines of Dog Trap Vineyard were planted on our property near Yass, NSW, in 1996, with smaller plantings two years later in 1998. The main vineyard consists of 2.7 ha (6.8 acres) of Shiraz and 2.4 ha (6 acres) of Cabernet Sauvignon, with other plantings, not currently in production, of Riesling (1 ha) and Pinot Gris (0.5 ha).

The present owners of the vineyard, Dr Dennis Hart and Ms Julian White, purchased the property in December 2003 and, until 2006 when the company abandoned the district, supplied grapes to the Hardy Kamberra winery in Canberra. The first wines under the Dog Trap Vineyard label were produced from the 2008 crop, the 2007 having been completely destroyed in December 2006 by a highly localized and ferociously violent hailstorm, the vineyard only 2.5 km up the road being completely unscathed.

The main vineyard is planted on a north-facing slope, on fertile red-brown granite-derived soils, and the now mature vines have reached their prime. This, together with deliberately low yields of around 2 tonnes per acre, results in the production of grapes and consequently wines of outstanding quality.