Rocky Vale Vineyard

This is the ultimate accidental vineyard. When David and Vanessa Rochford purchased a small property between Vine Vale and Rocky Valley on the slopes of the Barossa Rages in 2013, the plan was to clear the land (including the vines) and have a few acres to run a couple of sheep and plant some trees. A friend suggested the quality of the grapes was such that there was a real opportunity to sell them and make money from the venture, so they decided to see what would happen. In '15 they made what they termed a ‘small estimation error', in late March a tonne of grenache was hanging on the vines. Step in a couple of great mates, and the first wine was made. A similar small error was made in '16, hand-picking shiraz on a 38 degrees C day in late February, with the pickers going home leaving two tonnes of shiraz on the vine that missed the delivery time. Once again, mates came to the rescue, and given that surplus grapes seemed to be happening all too often, Rocky Vale winery was born. -JAMES HALLIDAY