With 130 hectares of vines the private family owned Glenlofty Estate is one of the larger vineyards in the Pyrenees Ranges in north western Victoria.
Originally owned by Seppelts the vineyard planted in 1995 was the supplier of grapes to premium labels including Seppelts and Penfolds releases made within the then Southcorp group.
Located at about a thousand feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pyrenees Ranges the vineyard site is judged as cool climate.
Under its new ownership since 2010, the grapes are now made and wines are released under the premium Glenlofty label and have been an immediate success winning numerous local and international awards and medals and gaining a premium five-star rating from James Halliday.
The private family owners have recently implemented a complete refreshment of the vineyard equipment fleet representing a significant capital investment.
Working with local district machinery dealer Ararat Auto & Ag Services the new equipment includes three Deutz Agroplus 420 Profiline vineyard tractors of nominally 100 horsepower, plus two new Silvan vineyard sprayers.
These replace tractors and spray equipment that has been in use since the mid 1990s establishment with the original tractor and spray equipment having been sold off privately.
Glenlofty vineyard manager Scott Gerrard says that the investment in the new fleet and other equipment reflects the commitment by the owners to be an efficient producer of premium quality wine grapes.
Scott notes that the 130 hectare vineyard comprises some thirty blocks including thirteen Shiraz, five Cabernet Sauvignon, three each of Merlot and Nebbiolo, two each of Chardonnay and Viognier and one each of Marsanne and Roussane.
“The unique location of the vineyard delivers complexity of fruit flavours, derived from a range of various block aspects, elevation and soil types and the result is wines of high quality and finesse”.
Silvan Australia’s account manager Mark Murnane says that local factors were considered in the specification of the two new vineyard sprayers.
The major one is an over the row Silvan trailing Turbomiser vineyard sprayer with a 3,500 litre capacity Polytuff tank.
“Recognising that when full the tank is relatively heavy so we fitted before delivery electric brakes and with cabin controls.
“This gives the tractor and sprayer operator a braking function when operating on sloping rows.
“We also fitted a quick fill chemical loading feature with Camlock couplings so that tank fills can be made quickly and safely from a central vineyard delivery point.
“And as the row spacings in some blocks are not consistent the over the row spray delivery points can be easily adjusted to suit individual row spacings.
“Silvan also supplied a 2,000 litre capacity Turbomiser spray unit to provide further application flexibility given the size of the blocks within the vineyard.
Mark adds “Silvan has the capability to build and supply sprayer combinations that exactly meet the variables of individual vineyards and especially their site conditions and layouts where vineyards have developed over time or under different periods of ownership and the design ideas have changed.
For more information on Silvan vineyard sprayer solutions contact Silvan Australia on 1300 SILVAN (1300 745 826) or email [email protected] for technical support, product information and local dealer contacts.