Two worlds of wine, perfectly blended.
The Islander Estate Vineyards brings together two vastly different worlds. The history, heritage and finesse of Bordeaux. And one of Australia’s newest, most remote and untamed wine regions – Kangaroo Island. By contrast rugged, unassuming and unsophisticated.
These two are blended together by Jacques Lurton to create unique, elegant, cool-climate wines.
The Islander Estate Vineyards was established by renowned 6th generation Bordeaux winemaker, Jacques Lurton after falling in love with Kangaroo Island’s natural beauty on his first visit to the island.
He followed up by planting The Islander Estate Vineyards in 2000. Located on the Kohinoor Hills in the heart of the Island, the Estate’s north-facing slopes and friable soil provide near perfect cool climate growing conditions for varieties like; Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Semillon.
Wholesale
The Islander Estate Vineyards wines are also available from fine wine merchants nationally and in many export markets. For wholesale and export enquiries, contact Yale Norris, General Manager, yale@iev.com.au
Services
The Islander Estate Vineyards intimate wine Tasting Room is centrally located on the compact Cygnet River Artisan trail.
Guests can take part in a personalised guided tasting before selecting a favourite to enjoy with a regional cheese and charcuterie platter on the lawns or decks with peaceful rural outlooks.
The Tasting Room is open 6 days a week (closed Wed) from 12 noon to 5.00pm.
For a special experience explore our bookable and private food and wine experiences via this link: www.iev.com.au/Visit-Us/Explore-experiences
Product
The Islander Estate Vineyards property was hand selected for its combination of agricultural and vineyard potential, north-facing slopes and heritage vegetation. The 300-hectare property near Parndana has a 11-hectare vineyard with dense plantations of 5000 vines per hectare.
Kangaroo Island’s maritime climate is heavily influenced by the Southern Ocean’s breezes which play an important role in the ripening process. Although there is lots of sunshine on the island, crucial in ripening the grapes, the cooling sea breezes help protect the grapes which allows for a long, slow ripening period; perfect for creating great complexity of flavour in the grapes.
With Jacques’ Bordeaux upbringing, it is perhaps unsurprising he considers blending of varieties to be a crucial element in creating great wine. In the same way, a great chef uses a range of ingredients to make a complex dish, blending provides a winemaker with the opportunity to pick the best bits from different grape varieties to create a more complete and complex final wine.
