Just over the hill from McLaren Vale, on a beautiful road winding past Kuitpo Forest, lies Top Note Vineyard, a premium cool climate Adelaide Hills vineyard. Top Note is the creation of Cate and Nick Foskett who threw themselves into viticulture and winemaking with the same enthusiasm, passion and high standards that have been hallmarks of their respective careers in opera and IT. For about a year they searched for a property in the countryside which combined forests and a view with room for a vegetable garden, an orchard and some vines so that Nick could achieve a long held ambition of making some wine.
Top Note Vineyard is a world apart from McLaren Vale, sitting at 330m elevation. Altitude and exposure to cool south-easterlies blowing up off the Southern Ocean keep us up to 10 degrees cooler than our neighbours in the vale, allowing us to grow cool climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and elegant Shiraz.
After ten years of running the vineyard and making award winning cool climate small batch wines Cate and Nick decided to take a step back and close the winery. We hit many Top Notes during our time including trophies as Best Sparkling for our High C méthode traditionnelle Sparkling, 94 points from Halliday for the wonderful Block 4, fabulous events combining wine and song and long enjoyable tastings with many of you at our humble cellar door. Our wines graced some of the best restaurants in Australia including Rockpool, Aria and Bennelong in Sydney. It was an adventure but we decided working seven days a week wasn't a long term option and have chosen to explore new directions.
Video courtesy of Wine Australia