Kaesler

Kaesler owns just over 37 hectares (92 acres) of vineyards in the Barossa Valley, the majority of which is old vine material planted in 1893, 1899, 1930 and in the 1960’s. Fruit is hand picked and hand pruned with irrigation kept to a minimum. Crop thinning is done in most years to reduce yields and maximise flavour with blocks kept separate until final blending.

Surrounding the winery is 28 hectares of vineyards. Soils are sandy clay loam, which in layman’s terms means we have sandy loam top soil for about 25cm and then it goes into a thick potter’s clay layer for the next 30-40cm. From there it is clay with small amounts of limestone dispersed throughout. Moisture is retained well in these soils, which is ideal for our hot, dry weather.

Kaesler also owns 9.21 hectares (22.8 acres) of vineyards in the Barossa sub region, Marananga. This area is on the western side of the region about 10 minutes drive from the Kaesler winery. The soils on this site have a profile of 10-15cm of sandy loam followed by clay with limestone thinly dispersed.

Kaesler strive to not only maintain but rebuild the soils, because at the end of the day they want to leave these precious old vines in better condition than they found them. It’s a process called ‘regenerative farming’ as it’s more than sustainability, it is a practice that constantly evolves so they are not just sustaining the environment they are improving it.

In 2002 soil testing in the ‘Old Bastard’ vineyard showed organic carbon of 0.3%, now due to the regenerative farming practices introduced they have increased that to 1.4%. Permanent pastures and widened the crop, from a traditional size, by one metre. This is a massive improvement. Despite each year the vines depleting the carbon, they have managed to remove carbon from the atmosphere and return it to the soil.