True 'Regional Heros': About Carol and Tony and Braydun Hill Vineyard

Writing about Braydun Hill in "The Weekend Australian", well known wine writer James Halliday states:

'TONY Dunn and Carol Bradley have a quintessentially Australian sense of humour, and an equally impressive resilience in coping with disasters large and small. 

These baby boomers built their home on an 8ha property next to the Onkaparinga Gorge National Park, with spectacular views overlooking South Australia’s McLaren Vale to the south and the Onkaparinga estuary and the ocean to the west.  

 In 1998, they embarked on a program to plant 4 ha of shiraz.  Together they dug the trenches for the main irrigation lines, Dunn recalls, “Planting the vines is the easy part; it’s everything else that comes later that’s the killer”.   With weekend help from friends, they trained the young vines, grubbed out weeds and began planning the planting of the second 2ha block.  

They did not plan for Dunn to fall off his horse in a cross-country competition.  Brain damage and spinal injuries made Dunn a partial quadriplegic and, when finally released from the spinal unit, he was in a wheelchair.  He had to learn to read and write again, and to make the difficult transition from wheelchair to elbow crutches.

In the meantime, the vineyard show had to go on.  Reluctantly, Bradley conceded that post ramming was beyond her capacity, so she employed a contractor.  The rest was done by Bradley and friends, though not without incident.  “I thought I was doing quite a good job on the tractor” she admits.  “But one day I got the front wheel caught up in the trellis wire.  The wire snapped and I watched in amazement as the domino effect came into operation, and slowly the whole row of vines fell over one by one.”  This encouraged Dunn – who still could not walk unaided – to get back on the tractor and buy a ride-on mower to get around.

The first grapes were produced in 2001 and sold to Normans:  winemaker Beck Kennedy was so impressed with the quality the wine was kept separate, and when Normans went into liquidation in late 2001 (without having fully paid for the grapes), Dunn and Bradley were able to reclaim the wine and, by default, Braydun Hill Shiraz was born.

Bradley and Dunn employed Kennedy to make the ensuing vintages.  In 2003, enough wine was made to allow Braydun Hill to be entered in the Royal Adelaide Wine Show, where it promptly won a gold medal, followed by another at the national Australian Small Winemakers Show...'
   
The vineyard
On a hill and overlooking the beautiful coastline, Braydun Hill vineyard is blessed with gentle breezes which cool the summer sun. The vineyard topography means that it is spared many of the diseases which vineyards further into the valley suffer. 

The vineyard is visited by wildlife which has made it part of their home, and the vineyard is often host to koalas, wallabies and echidnas.  There is an abundance of birds in the vineyard, which keep down the bugs and other nasties.  No pesticides are used in the Braydun Hill Vineyard. 

The vineyard slopes gently to the north and west, which makes for even ripening of the grapes.  No traps, no shooting, no gas guns or bird scarers are used.  The vines are covered in nets before the grapes ripen, ensuring that no harm is done to our natural fauna.  The Braydun Hill vineyard is situated on a rare patch of Paranga sandy loam, which has a clay base and is an ideal medium for growing quality grapes.

For many generations, Braydun Hill has been used as a grazing property, for cattle, sheep and angora goats.  The ideal grape growing position led to the decision to plant the vineyard in the mid 1990s, and in 1998 the first vines were planted.  The decision was made at the time to aim to produce top quality grapes from the Shiraz variety which traditionally has been used to make the very best full bodied red wine.

Combining the tradition of grazing and grape growing, Carol and Tony move their sheep into the vineyard straight after vintage where they stay until budburst in the spring.  Permanent pasture between the rows provides good feed, and in return the sheep provide natural fertiliser for the vines.

Cellar Door:  The small cosy cellar door is open Thursday to Sunday and public holidays from 11.00 to 4.00.  We both look forward to seeing you soon!