Uncovering the Limestone Coast

on 16/09/2013 at 9:00 am

Tapanappa's Whalebone Vineyard cave, Wrattonbully - the jaw of a 25-37 million year old whale protruding from the rock.

Me at Tapanappa’s Whalebone Vineyard cave, Wrattonbully – the jaw of a 25-37 million year old whale protrudes from the rock. Photo Steve Bourne – the Cave Guru

Australians are renowned for being straight talking so no surprises then that the Limestone Coast wine region boasts limestone soils.

Down the hatch – the Whalebone cave, which was discovered when the vineyard was ripped.

Not that it stopped folk from showing me more soil pits than you can shake a stick at, including the ultimate in soil pits – Wrattonbully’s Whalebone (pictured above) and Schulz caves (pictured below). This region is positively pock-marked with World Heritage protected caves which you can visit at Naracoorte Caves park.

Dinner at the Schultz cave, Wrattonbully

And with good reason. As I discovered on my tour of Limestone Coasst regions Mount Gambier, Wrattonbully, Coonawarra, Mount Benson and Robe last week, the permutations in terms of type and depth of top soils and friability are many. Differences which can impact on the resulting wines as a tasting of Wynn’s Single Vineyard range from Coonawarra confirmed.

Tasting notes will follow but, meantime, hope the soil (and fossil) loving terrorists among you enjoy the pics.

$Mount Gambier's Koongorong Region is unique in its fractured flint soils - Seddon Ridge vineyard$

Mount Gambier’s Kongorong sub-region is unique in its fractured flint soils – Seddon Ridge vineyard

Hot rock treatment – Kongorong’s flint warms the soil

Fencing posts regularly disappear in Wrattonbully

Fencing posts regularly disappear into the (under)ground in Wrattonbully

As their bones and fossils attest, extinct mega-fauna (large marsupials) perished when they fell into holes in the ground. This is the jaw of a giant Tasmanian Devil.