DogRock winery is located in the hills behind the tiny settlement of Crowlands, Western Victoria, Australia. The winery and vineyards are part of the Pyrenees wine growing region and are considered to have a cool to moderate climate. Our vineyards are nestled onto either side of a horse-shoe valley with individual macroclimates, surrounded by a high ridge to the north and open slopes to the south. This location was selected specifically for viticulture with sustainability and environmental considerations high on the agenda. The location provides ideal climate for the selected grape varieties which provide shelter from the hot winds for the white varieties, and full sun for the red varieties. Elevation is from 300 to 400 metres above sea level and this provides cool nights, relative frost free springs and sunny dry autumns: perfect for the creation of elegant Shiraz, Tempranillo and Riesling. The climate is very similar to the Rioja region of Spain and the Southern Rhone Valley of France which produce some of the finest wines in the world.

The Pyrenees wine region is famous for its Shiraz and benefits from high sunshine hours and low disease risk during its long, dry, warm summers. The DogRock vineyards are situated on the western edge of the Pyrenees in full sun and this enables all varieties to ripen fully (even a small block of Grenache).

The varieties are planted with distinct macroclimates in mind, white varieties on the right hand side of the valley (facing west) to protect from hot north winds in summer, red varieties on the left to maximise sun exposure. White varieties are planted on gentle south facing slopes with red varieties on gentle north facing slopes. The soils are ancient and have low nutrient content and consist of shallow loam over clay. This is well suited to the production of complex and savoury red wines. The south facing vineyards are noticeably cooler than the north and this is also perfect for retaining fresh fruit characters in our white wines.

DogRock winery was first established in 1998 when 58 hectares of land was purchased behind the township of Crowlands on the western flank of the Pyrenees ranges in Victoria, Australia. Although most of the land consists of rugged timbered hillsides, the cleared area was considered ideal for vineyards and ultra premium wine production. The timbered areas were also, considered of significant value as we are very focused on the environment and ways of helping counter balance some of the problems facing the world today. Additionally, we have planted 5,000 trees back on the hillsides where no vineyards are to be planted. In 2000, we planted our first grapes and built our own house high on one of the ridges. The house was designed to run on solar and wind power and the water supply is serviced from catching natural rainfall off the roof. The house is also counter sunk into the hillsides to allow the earth to nestle against the walls for cave like cooling in the summer. Water is gravity fed into the building and solar water heating services the house in summer. In general, the only link we have to the outside world was a telephone line but nowdays even tha tis via satellite. We then proceeded to build our winery to a similar theme and the finishing touches have now been completed. A recent addition in 2010 was a small "turkeys nest" or dam set high up on the ridge to provide water for irrigation by gravity. A solar pump will first transfer the water to this dam, then water will be returned for irrigation at the appropriate time. This will enable flexability and a more efficient manner to irrigate with no fossil fuels used at all.

The hills which surround the DogRock vineyards are high on the western slopes of the Pyrenees ranges. Elevation is between 300—396 m above sea level and the winery lies to the western side of the property on a ridge overlooking Mt Langhi Ghiran and Mount Cole. This ridge runs to the top of the property and is timbered with remnant natural bush covering most of its slopes. The property itself has seen little grazing of introduced farm animals and this has allowed many of the indigenous plant species to survive relatively un-scathed. This was another reason we decided to purchase the land. We will be encouraging any eager bush walkers to stroll up this ridge to the top of the hill (a moderate walk of about 800 m) and cast their eyes to the Grampians to the West, Mt Langi Ghiran due South, the Pyrenees ranges to the East and the Navarre hills to the North. Along the way you will almost certainly encounter kangaroos, wedge tailed eagles, many birds and an occasional echidna, natural grasses and shrubs and some views that will take your breath away.

In case you are wondering, the name DogRock comes from 2 different paths. It is the name of a book written by David Foster about a little country town in rural N.S.W. and the people who live in it. The other path is more local and a property just south of our vineyard was once called Dogrock. My mother (Allens) grew up on the farm next to it and the name was changed some time ago to something similar so we decided to adopt the name. It is now trademarked to us.

The varieties we have selected to grow reflect our interest in the European style of wines with our dislike of over-ripe high alcohol wines. Our intention is to make wines that are elegant, have balance and flavour but will still reward some modest time in the cellar. We aim to have ultra premium wines at modest pricing that allows access to all. Vintage wines will be released on the second weekend in October each year and cellar door will remain open until stock is sold out.

Wine styles will be innovative and interesting. An example is our current sparkling red blend which utilises Tempranillo, Shiraz and Grenache in varying components. As far as we are aware this, is the only sparkling red wine with this blend in the world. Once others have tried this wine we suspect that our sparkling red will be copied thereafter.

Another example is our Riesling which is made with minimal gas cover, solids content during fermentation and lee’s stirred for up to 4 months to build palate weight. Although different in style from the classic Australian Riesling, the result is added palate weight, flavour and texture with a high drink-ability.

Our vineyards have been restricted to three red varieties (Shiraz, Tempranillo & Grenache) and three white varieties (Riesling, Chardonnay & Marsanne). We produce wine from all varieties but also blend between these to attain the most interesting wines which reflect current European styles. White wines may also be cross blended in future to capture natural flavour and freshness while delivering palate weight and mouth-feel. Our intention for the Marsanne is to make a luscious desert wine which is also seldom seen in Australia from this variety.

All wines will be sealed with a screw cap and no DogRock wine will be released under natural cork bark. This will ensure the wine reaches you in the condition we intend.