Random Valley Organic Wines is located in Karridale, part
of the famous Margaret River wine growing region in Western
Australia. Random Valley, run by the Little family, joined
other vineyards which have now multiplied to make Karridale
a significant wine sub-region of Margaret River. Our commitment
to sustainibility has seen us awarded
as a category winner of the 2005
Banksia Environmental Awards, the pre eminent environmental
awards in Australia.
An unique climate
Karridale’s climate is unique in the
Margaret River region because of its equidistance from both
the Southern and Indian Oceans. It is truly a maritime climate
characterised by mild winters and warm but not overly hot
summers. The resulting fruit is full of magnificent flavours
that have produced premium wine of excellent quality.
Click here to see what's so special about the Margaret
River Region .
The Random Valley Farm
The farm is situated on two sides of a valley
in Karridale with the vineyard planted on the north-facing
slope of the valley. The top of the valley is the highest
point in the landscape ensuring no nutrient run off from adjoining
properties. Six hectares of vines were planted in 1996, two
hectares of Semillon, two of Sauvignon Blanc, two of Cabernet
Sauvignon and one hectre of Shiraz planted in l999.
Soil Science
Since the purchase of our farm we have used
a science-based approach to improve the structure and fertility
of the vineyard soils to build humus and biological activity.
Our vineyard management practice ensures the correct balance
of minerals and nutrients in the soil appropriate for the
stages in the vine’s growing cycle.
Our soils, our vines, our water, and our
organic fertilisers programs are constantly monitored and
evaluated in field trials to enable us to learn more about
our intervention in natural systems and plan our soil management
program.
Chemical Free
As organic farmers we do not use any synthetic
chemical based fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides in the
management of our vineyard or in the processing of our wines.
Little Valley - a lifestyle
We have been very fortunate to be able to
network the services of Ian Anderson a geo-chemist, soil scientist
and Neil George a laboratory chemist for our field trials
and monitoring programs. The team consists of experienced
enthusiastic people willing to learn along with us.
We have enjoyed the many "willing workers
on organic farms" (WWOOFers) from a wide range of overseas
countries who have stayed to help us on the farm and in the
vineyard. Many a night has been spent around a dictionary.
With our regular workers we have set up
flexible work arrangements to fit the demands of their family
life and outside interests.
For the first five years of our venture
the team has focused on establishing soil conditions capable
of producing high quality fruit. During these years our fruit
was sold to a leading Margaret River winery. Each year has
given us enormous satisfaction knowing our fruit was being
used for premium wine production.
