Once a bare grazing paddock, the Ceres Hill property has been completely reimagined by the Margan family since it was purchased in 1994. The entire farm was a simple monoculture and is now managed with organic and regenerative agricultural principles. This means we encourage biodiversity and a complex ecosystem, that in turn produces wines of distinctive qualities. Semillon and Chardonnay were planted in the beginning on the grey, clay slopes which lie over a sandstone base. In 1998 we planted Barbera, Merlot and Cabernet Franc on the red volcanic clay patch behind the winery. More recently, in 2014, one of the first Albarino vineyards in Australia was planted on the free draining alluvial river flats behind the restaurant kitchen garden.
Our Ceres Hill Vineyard has entirely been established by us and we planted varieties traditional to the Hunter as well as pioneering ones. This is the property where the winery and tourism operations are based and was first planted by us in 1989 with just 2ha of Semillon. It was the start of Margan Wines and plantings have increased over the decades to a total of 16ha. There are three soil types on this property: grey clay (Semillon and Chardonnay); sandy loam (Albariño) and red clay sand (Barbera and Merlot).
Ceres Hill Semillon and Ceres Hill Chardonnay are planted on an easterly facing slope on the hill on grey clay. It is an infertile soil causing the vines to struggle which maintains low yields and concentrates flavours in the grapes. The soil ensure acidity in the grapes is high which is the hallmark of Hunter Semillon and this finer style of Chardonnay and allows the wines to age.
We were the first to plant Barbera in the Hunter in 1998. It is planted just behind the winery on a small block of volcanic clay.
We planted Albarino in 2014, being again the first in the Hunter to do so and one of the first in Australia. It is planted to sandy loam between the Kitchen Garden and the Wollombi Brook.
