Mount Langi Ghiran

Country:

Australia

The original vineyards were planted in the 1870's when European immigrants traveled to Western Victoria to discover gold. Bringing vines with them from the old country they went about working the rich fertile land of the Western district, creating some of Australia oldest vineyards. The vines were replaced by sheep at the turn of the century, however the site was re established in 1963 by Italian immigrants the Fratin brothers. Their first plantings were the Swiss Clone Shiraz, taken from the 140 year old nursery block in Great Western. They soon discovered that with the unique mix of Mount Langi Ghirans environment they were producing a spicy, pepper complex wine we now know as "Langi Shiraz".

The Grampians region has a long history of producing elegant, powerful and long lived table wines. Vines were first planted in 1860 and in December 1887 the Ararat Advertiser reported that the local wine 'had won honours all over the world'. In 1892, there were 92 grapegrowers in the Grampians district with some 1885 acres under vine. With the downturn in the fortunes of the wine industry earlier this century, much of this vineyard was grubbed out with some hardy survivors, such as Bests, keeping the traditions alive. A resurgence in the late 1960s and 1970s lead to the establishment of a new group of wineries, including Mount Langi Ghiran. Now the Grampians region is once again recognised internationally for the absolute quality of our wines. Today the Grampians wine region includes vineyards and wineries around the city of Ararat and the townships of Buangor, Great Western and Halls Gap. The region is best known for table wines, especially shiraz and riesling, with chardonnay, pinot noir, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon adding to the richness and diversity.

They have all been aware of the pepper characters in cool climate shiraz, it’s more recently they have been looking beyond that. What makes the Langi site so special is the unique granite soils, their very cold growing seasons, the ongoing lack of rain, and the strong southerly winds. They want to go beyond conventional pepper characters, by bringing out the floral, perfumed, feline and savoury aspects that shiraz can show, especially when growing from old vines on a cold site, and applying old fashioned winemaking.

Dan Buckle

Dan joined the winemaking team at Mount Langi Ghiran in 2003 and brings to the team not only a great breadth of winemaking experience gained both in Australia and abroad, but skills across a variety of disciplines (and a lovely winery dog called Ruby).
The son of two psychoanalysts, Dan was very clear from the beginning that the family business was not for him. It all began in the early 1980’s when Dan’s father planted a vineyard near Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula. It was here, working on the family vineyard that Dan first developed an interest in wine. In the late eighties and early nineties, Dan spent several years travelling and living in Europe as a member of the Australian fencing team (1989-1990) before returning to Melbourne University to complete an Arts (French/Italian/Classics) degree with Honours in 1993. During these years Dan began working in hospitality, finding himself increasingly interested in wine.
After living near Venice and training at the famous Circolo Scherma Mestre under Maestro Livio Di Rosa, alongside some of the Olympic and World Champion Italian foil fencers, it eventually became clear that there was simply not enough sponsorship for an Australian fencer to support this expensive lifestyle.
Dan’s Arts major thesis was in classical Latin and mediaeval Italian poetry, and in particular Dante’s Inferno. While an interesting subject matter, it was not much of a career move, so leading Dan to look toward s a more prosperous career. Viticulture, which at the time was a growing industry in Australia, offered much promise and no need to wear a tie to work. It was clear from Dan’s time spent pruning on the Mornington Peninsula, nearly always in the pouring rain, that the winemakers had it easy and that the place to be was in fact in the cellar.
From 1991 to 1996, Dan continued his wine education working in both restaurants and retail wine sales. Three of these years were spent at Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar where he was involved in re corking and mandatory sampling of several hundred bottles in the Watson’s cellar in 1996. In 1995, Dan began a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine) at Charles Sturt University. In 1997, he was granted a Bursarship through the University to travel to Bordeaux, and under took a vintage with Ch. Carsin in the Premiere Côtes de Bordeaux. Here he assisted in the making of Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as well as a small amount of Appellation Cadillac.
After finishing University in 1997, Dan began work at Coldstream Hills in the Yarra Valley. Working as assistant winemaker to James Halliday he gained invaluable experience and was exposed to many of the great wines of the world thanks to this distinguished mentor. Through the attention to detail in this prestigious winery, and the exposure to so many of the world’s greatest wines, Dan was able to develop an ambitious and aspiring approach to making Australia’s finest wines, both in the Yarra Valley and now at Mount Langi Ghiran.
In 1999 after two vintages at Coldstream Hills, Dan joined the team at Yering Station. It was in his first year at Yering Station that Dan worked vintage at Champagne Devaux, partners in the Yarra Valley winery’s sparkling wine venture - Yarrabank.
In 2001, Dan returned to France for another vintage, this time working with the Yves Confuron at Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot in Vosne Romanee and at Domaine de Courcel in Pommard. On arrival at Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, Jacques Confuron declared Dan to be an Australian spy – un espion Australien – the beginnings of a strained relationship which was nonetheless fruitful and brought new ideas and techniques to both sides of the equator.
In mid-2003, Dan was offered an exciting opportunity to join Mount Langi Ghiran which had been acquired by the Rathbone Family in late 2002. Since then Mount Langi Ghiran has been hosting many young European spies and this has brought depth and interest to each vintage at Mount Langi Ghiran. That same year, Dan was awarded a scholarship to the Len Evans Tutorial. Since 2004 Dan has been involved in wine judging, as Associate Judge at The Macquarie Bank Sydney Royal Wine Show, and as a Judge at Cowra Wine Show.