Our wines are produced at our state of the art winery located in the picturesque Barossa Valley which is capable of processing 480 tonnes of grapes per year. With our own facilities we can control everything from the vineyard all the way through the winemaking process to produce the best possible wine. We use screw cap closures to improve the consistency of our bottled wine.
Address
979 Light Pass Rd, Vine Vale SA 5352, Australia
Specifications
Total winery size (inside) is 40 m x 40m. This is divided up into three sections:
Dry goods storage
Area of 20 x 20m. Total capacity 360 pallets
Barrel Storage
Area of 20 x 20m. Total capacity is about 840 x 300 L barrels
Fermentation and Tank Farm
Area of 20 x 40m
Tank Farm: 2 x 4.5 kl tanks, 3 x 7.5 kl tanks, 4 x 15 kl tank = 91.5 kl in
total
Fermentation: 5 x 10 tonne open fermenters (stage 1), further capability of 6 x 5
tonne opens and 4 x 2.5 t opens.
We also have two outside canopy areas. The first is for unloading grapes and access to the internal hopper/crusher. The second allows for unloading of all pallets and dry goods out of the weather.
The winery license is for 480 tonnes crush. The 2021 crush was 120 tonnes.
Winemaking
The majority of our red grapes (Shiraz) are machine harvested to allow the best flexibility in harvesting decisions. They are then transported in ½ tonne Nally bins to the winery where they are crushed and destemmed. Fermentation occurs in small open top fermenters with regular pump overs early in fermentation which decrease over time to ensure a balanced extraction of tannin. After draining off the free run the skins are gently pressed via an air bag press and combined back with the free run. Each batch of wine is then filled to 300 L French and American hogsheads and kept separate. We like to fill our wine to barrels early as this gives the best integration of oak and flexibility in blending.
Once fermentation is complete each batch is racked out of barrel, sulphur added, mixed, and filled back to full storage. Oak maturation varies depending on the wine style and vintage but is usually between 12 and 18 months before bottling.
The Rieslings are mainly machine harvested in the cool of the night to minimise oxidation and increase quality. They are destemmed and gently pressed via an air bag press. After cold settling to remove heavy lees, fermentation is carried out at low temperatures to help capture the citrus aromatics. Once complete the wines are kept in full storage on yeast lees for about three months prior to filtration and bottling.
Sustainability
Pirathon has adopted a wide range of innovative practices in our winery. These practices not only bring environmental and sustainable development benefits, but also produce healthier fruits, resulting in better quality wines:
- Winemaking is done in open fermenters, for gentle extraction of tannin, flavour, colour.
- All winemaking is inside so minimal cooling and electricity is required.
- Most of our electricity at the winery is sourced from a 20.8 KW Solar system on the roof of the winery.
- All water used in the winery is recycled on the property used for native trees and gardens.
- All grape stalks and marc is used for sheep feed for a local farmer.
Expansion
To accommodate for our rapid growth the winery was recently expanded and is capable of processing 480 tonnes of grapes per year. Click to see a video during the construction process of the expansion.
