| Vineyard: Development
DEVELOPMENT | HARVEST 2004 |
The Murrin Bridge Vineyard (MBV) arose out of a Community Development and Employment Program (CDEP) project of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) undertaken in 1999 by five members of the Murrin Bridge Aboriginal Community. The five received training for a Diploma in Viticulture from the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) College in Griffith.
The Vineyard is founded
The original intention was to grow grapes as the practical component of the TAFE program and sell the grapes to a local winery – in other words, to be a small commodity supplier. This indeed was what occurred: an initial 5 acres was planted with Shiraz grapes in 1999 The potential for the development of a wine-making business was recognised and led by one of the participants, Craig Cromelin. Craig convinced his colleagues to re-frame the CDEP to production of grapes for a quality winery, to be the first vineyard owned and managed by Aboriginal peoples in Australia.
The concept of a Murrin Bridge Winery gelled and an application to ATSIC for a loan to start the business was obtained in 1999. A further 20 acres of Shiraz grapes was planted in 2000 which included 600 vines of white (Menindi) and red (red globe) table grapes.
2001 Vintage
The first year’s vintage (2001) yielded 1,400 bottles of shiraz red wine. 800 of these bottles have been used for selective promotion.
2002 Vintage
The second year’s grapes were picked in late February 2002. 12,000 bottles of Shiraz have been produced, along with bottling almost 500 cases of Chardonnay.
Additional hectares of red wine grapes have already been planted to produce a first year vintage. A further 40 hectares has been cleared in 2001-2002, the irrigation system extended and planted during the 2002 winter. Plantings were of Shiraz, Semillon and Chardonnay varieties.
MBV is not going to proceed with commercial production of table grapes but will be available for local consumption.
2003 Vintage
Summer 2003, a year of very high temperatures and severe drought, saw a good hand-picked harvest in February with a yield of over 30 tons. Then it was straight into staking, wiring and pruning for the new 40 acres.
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