Megan Blandford

IT was love at first sight when Andrew and Angela Wood saw Kyneton Ridge Estate. “We fell in love with the scenery at the winery, and with the Macedon region,” Andrew says.
The couple had been searching in other wine regions for the perfect property and business opportunity when they stumbled upon the Macedon Ranges by accident. Andrew says that, as well as feeling right at home there, they knew the winery they’d found was capable of great things. “We were really impressed with the quality of the wine coming out of the Macedon region, which gave us a lot of hope for being able to make great wines here.”
The first vines were planted at Kyneton Ridge Estate in 1997 and, since purchasing the property and the business in 2019, Andrew and Angela have doubled the acreage under vine and undertaken a major renovation.
Kyneton Ridge Estate produces fine wines including a pinot noir, chardonnay, Macedon Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay and shiraz. All the wines are made by Patrick Wood, who honed his winemaking skills in Bordeaux and the Yarra Valley.
“There are two varieties that Macedon stands out for: pinot noir and chardonnay,” says Andrew. “It’s also a fantastic region for sparkling wines: you get lovely, intense fruit with good acid that produces beautiful sparkling wine.”
Perhaps surprisingly from this region, it’s the 2020 Shiraz that is currently receiving accolades. “We get our shiraz from Heathcote,” Andrew says. “It’s from a particular set of rows in a vineyard that has been growing our fruit (for the shiraz) for a decade, so we know the fruit really well. It has good intensity, it’s picked at perfect ripeness, and it makes a really lovely shiraz.”

Great wine starts in the vineyard
An easy hour’s drive from Melbourne, Kyneton Ridge Estate is elevated in the cool Victorian climate.
“We’re at 550 metres above sea level, in the coldest wine region in mainland Australia,” Andrew says. These cool temperatures produce “fresh and complex chardonnay and pinot noir. It’s a long, slow ripening period, and we generally pick quite late, so the fruit retains a lot of natural acid which generates beautifully intense but light styles of wine”.
The vineyard is farmed with the use of organic compost and biodynamic principles, without using chemical pesticides or herbicides. “Great wine starts in the vineyard,” Andrew says. “We follow organic principles, managing the transition to a biodynamically strong vineyard that doesn’t need any support in other ways. The healthier the vines are and the stronger and healthier the environment they’re in, the less disease and insect pressure you get, and that’s where we aspire to be. It’s a long process, but that’s what we’re working on.”
He adds, “This attention to the vines means the fruit is getting better every year”.
This doesn’t come without its challenges, in particular the tricky granitic sand that the vines are growing in. “We have small vines that are working very hard, growing small bunches of intense fruit,” says Andrew. “This means we’re constantly monitoring the soil condition and adding organic compost and organic supplements to it. It’s very fragile soil, so we have to be very careful. We use regenerative practices, making sure the vineyard has good, green grass cover all year round, giving good carbon addition to the soil right through the year and continuing to feed the plants, and combining that with pruning and training and careful attention to the vines. That’s something we’ll continue to work on.”

Quality wines and quality family time
Kyneton Ridge is a family affair: Andrew and Angela’s son is their chief winemaker, and their two daughters are also involved in the business. This means that, along with making quality wines, the focus of the Estate is on having quality family time.
This enjoyment in what they do is evident in visitors’ experiences, with Kyneton Ridge Estate known for generous and warm hospitality that makes the trip off the beaten track more than worthwhile.
The venue includes a newly designed café that serves a southern European inspired menu, including share plates, pizza, desserts, coffee and, of course, wine. Within the café sits an art space, combining two of Angela’s big passions: cooking and art. Add wine to the mix and you have the perfect trio.
The result is a modern setting with a relaxed atmosphere and a personalised touch that extends to the wine tasting experience. “In the cellar door, we’ve gone away from the line-up along the bar with a brochure,” Andrew says. “Instead, we do seated tastings. It’s an opportunity to sit and talk to people, introducing them to our wines and to this beautiful property. We love meeting people from all over the country, and all over the world, including our great local following who come back all the time.”
Up next for Kyneton Ridge Estate is a trial of some new varieties. “We’ve planted riesling, nebbiolo and cabernet in the last year and a half,” Andrew says. “We’re making the cabernet at the moment and finding that it has the weight of a southern European wine rather than a traditional Australian cabernet, which is really exciting.”
When you open a bottle of Kyneton Ridge Estate wine, Andrew and Angela hope you taste the cool, complex and, above all, welcoming Macedon Ranges region. Andrew says, “We try to produce wines that reflect the region, and which highlight the love, care and attention that’s gone into their production”.