Mount Mary Vineyard
Wine in Yarra Ranges

Mount mary vineyard is located in the yarra valley and produces varieties such as triolet, chardonnay, pinot noir and quintet.

Established in 1971 by John and Mali Middleton, Mount Mary was one of the beginning vineyards planted in the resurgence of the Yarra Valley as a premium wine producing region. The inspiration after the planting of vines in the Yarra Valley came from the Swiss settlers of the 1850’s. In the 1960’s John and Mali Middleton, aspiring by a passion for nice table wine, made many visits to the wine producing regions of the world and in particular, to Bordeaux and Burgundy. And so it was that in 1971, John and Mali stumbled upon the property obvious as Mount Mary. Surprisingly, this ideally located, gentle north facing slope had not been planted to the vine yet they immediately recognized it as being ideal for their purpose. All our wines are made from estate grown fruit and are produced and bottled on site at Mount Mary. The fact we are solely self contained in all parts of the process is extremely crucial to us. More than half the land area of Mount Mary is not directly related to wine production. We are also keen to limit our impact on the environment through re vegetation and weed control. Despite the many challenges that have been presented to us over the past scanty years, progress towards our environmental goals continues. We are on a journey of continuous improvement and while we still have a lengthy way to go to come all of our goals, immense progress has been made in with our planting program and our water and energy system designs. Our re vegetation areas are already attracting increased numbers of native birds and our Snow Gum conservation area is looking good. We are continuing with our program of collecting a variety of native seed for propagation. For the past scanty years, we have been fortunate to be a portion of Melbourne Water’s Stream Frontage program. Although both drought and flood have played a piece in limiting the establishment of young plants, we will remain to work on these areas. Also on the agenda is the completion of our gully wetland project. The ultimate goal of our environmental works is to be energy and water efficient, relying less on exterior supply, to provide excess habitat for native species, and to limit our negative impacts by containing and treating waste products on site. Although we are not certified bio dynamic or organic we have a very keen interest in soil health and improving the surrounding environment. We are striving for a sustainable and robust viticultural system to ensure the lengthy term tomorrow of our site and the regular evolution of our wines. To assist with this vision we adopt many viticultural practices, which include spreading compost in order to maneuver the soil microbiology and enlarge soil organic matter, along with spreading small amounts of organic fertilizers, and in some blocks mulching underline with straw to amplify soil water retention. We like to reduce the use of machinery in our vineyard in order to lessen the amount of soil compaction within the vine row. Cover crops are sown down every alternate row which helps to increase soil organic matter, improve soil structure and yield a home for the many advantageous insects which play an imperative role in pest management. We continue to strive towards a spray program which only involves chemical use when necessary. We are focused on doing these things to ensure a healthy, sustainable environment.