The farr rising story, Nick Farr
Vineyard work for me started off as being a real chore. The kids in the family
were asked to work on a block of close-planted pinot called "College
Pinot" at Clyde Park, where I lived for 15 years. The name college was
in regards to our schooling at Geelong College and in direct relation to school
fees.
I drove tractors, motorbikes, played with the sheep and camped by the Moorabool River every chance I got, all the things a country boy would do. It was not until the summer of 1997 - 1998 at the age of eighteen that I realised what I wanted to do. I always thought that I would become a P.E. teacher or a sporting coach. Instead I went in the opposite direction and found food and wine. During this summer I attended some of the Tucker Seabrook tastings with dad, but spent no time helping on the stand, but helped myself to the smoked salmon and a variety of wines. I discovered this was the lifestyle I wanted to live!
From this point on I knew I wanted to stay on the land, so I spent the next two years at Dookie Agricultural College enrolled in Agriculture (Viticulture). During the summer holidays I worked 2 vintages for Rosemount Estate in the Hunter Valley. I experienced grape sampling in the Hunter Valley, Mudgee and Cowra regions and my role also encompassed looking for diseases, testing sugar levels and rating fruit.
2000 was the year I experienced a complete harvest at Bannockburn (previous years I only did occasional work). I completed a second vintage in 2000 with Steve Dorner at Cristom in Oregon USA, extending my knowledge and experience to the culture and techniques of another cool climate pinot noir producer.
2001 was a big year again for me. Travelling to the Hunter Valley, I had the opportunity during vintage to work in the laboratory at Rosemount Estate. Completing the juice and wine analysis was a fundamental learning curve for me in regards to the chemical components of wine.
Upon my return from Rosemount Estate I completed another vintage at Bannockburn,
but was also given the opportunity to make my own wine under the Innisfail
label and my own brand "Farr Rising". Since then I have not looked
back and gone on to make the 2001 vintage at Innisfail.
My travels continued taking me to California to work with Jim Clendennen at Au Bon Climat. For such a large operation, the winery still maintained a very hands-on philosophy, incorporating quite differing techniques with a blend of the old and the new. It was an experience of fine food and wines, that at my age, I would never have thought I would have the opportunity to experience.
2002 has seen the completion of my second vintage at Innisfail and a vintage in Burgundy at Domaine Dujac, in September/October. And my father and I began a new vineyard on a fantastic site lined with limestone.
2003 vintage was the last done at Innisfail as a new winery was being built while further establishing a vineyard.
2004 was the first vintage in the new winery situated in Bannockburn. Fruit was still sourced from the Innisfail vineyard which is on the Northern slopes of the Moorabool Valley in deep volcanic soils, lined with limestone. The vines have been established for 20 years, consisting of Pinot Noir (MV6, 114 & 115), Chardonnay and Merlot. This vintage also saw the new fruit from plantings of pinot and chardonnay. The winemaking process in all years has been very hands-on with hand picking and pigeage methods applied.
Pinot and merlot are aged in 30% new French oak, mainly from the forest of Vosges and Allier. Chardonnay is aged in 30% new French oak for 12 months.
The Mornington Pinot is grown on a small ideal site in Merricks. This vineyard was established in 1997 with clones of MV6, 114 and 115.
Nick assisted in its establishment and now controls the quality and quantity, by restricting it to no more than 2 tons to the acre. The wine is made using Burgundian methods in open top fermenters and aged in 30% new Vosges and Allier barrels.