Davendra and Shashi Singh are like many small-scale winemakers we have met on our travels. They have a passion for their craft and work hard to realise their vision. In their case, enough passion and daring to strike out beyond their successful restaurant businesses and take the considerable step of buying their own winery. This move occurred in 1998 when they purchased Wildcroft Estate, located south of Red Hill in the Mornington Peninsula. From 2000, Philip Jones of the Bass Phillip winery made Avani’s wines, with Shashi’s role in the winemaking process increasing from 2004 onwards.
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| Some reasonably young Syrah vines grafted onto older vines. Halfway down the vineyard at the transition point from red to grey soil |
When asked about the exclusive production of Syrah, Shashi
explained that following several vintages where Syrah stood out, they decided
to take the advice of Phillip Jones, as well as trusting their own
palates, replanting a conventional suite of Mornington grape varieties with
Syrah. Shashi explained that they had initially aimed to make Pinot Noir using
Bass Phillip's Pinot Noir as a (very high) benchmark. When the first few
vintages turned out to be successful, though not exceptional wines (in their
view), they decided to focus on the grape most assisted by the terroir. Acknowledging the time it takes, and the financial
risks involved, it is still refreshing to see winemakers taking a punt to make
wine based on the varieties that are empirically superior when grown on a given
site, rather than persisting with a variety unsuited to the region and/or terroir.
Walking further down the sloping north facing Avani
vineyard, the soil transitioned from deep red volcanic clay near the winery, to
a slatey, alluvial grey lower down. Davendra and Shashi shared with us the
journey they have taken developing the winery and vineyard over the last 15
years. This included the ongoing process of rehabilitating the vineyard,
transforming it gradually from a conventional winemaking operation to an
organic and biodynamic one, dramatically reducing the cropping levels while
increasing the vine density.
Shashi and Davendra were rightly proud of the positive impact organic and biodynamic farming practices were having on the health of the soil (and as we would find out later that morning, on the wines themselves). The soil was healthy: soft underfoot with lush grass and plant life nearby.
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| The Avani vineyard, 3/4 down, looking toward the winery |
As we both left the winery on the sunny spring morning, it was clear that the story of Avani was one that should appeal to the hearts, minds and palates of drinkers keen to try small output, hand-made, honest yet exciting wines.
