Background:

When Ray & Lynette Klavins purchased the 14 hectare property that has become home to penna Lane Wines, it was a weed and rubbish strewn derelict dairy and tumbledown piggery. Initially living in a tent, then moving into the old dairy (which is now the cellar door, and before that had been used as a shearing shed), with hard work they have converted the property to one of the best vineyards in Clare Valley.

Cabernet grapes were planted in 1996, followed by Shiraz and Semillon (the wonderful Riseling  is produced from grapes grown by a nearby close friend) .In 1997, when Ray moved from working as a vigneron for Southcorp to Knappstein Wines in Clare, Ray & Lynette were finally able to build a house on the property.

Ray and his wine-partner, Stephen Stafford Brookes, believe that the heart of winemaking is in the growing of the grapes, and their passion for their craft shows all the way from the growing to crushing, and cellaring of the wines. This passion shows clearly in the quality of these fine wines.

Viticulture:

The vineyard is located 10 kms south of Clare in the picturesque Skilly Hills, adjacent to the Spring Gully Conservation Park, Mitchell Wines and Kilikanoon Wines.

The vineyard is planted  at an elevation of approximately 450 metres which provides for a long, slow,  ripening period, resulting in intense varietal fruit flavours.Our grapes are invariably among the last in the Clare Valley to be picked. The vines are virtually dry-grown, receiving only limited supplementary irrigation in the dry years. Trellising consists of a single fruiting wire and moveable foliage wires which enable us to vertically position the shoots for better bunch exposure. The vineyard is extremely labour-intensive: this is in keeping with our  philosophy that wine is made in the vineyard. Plantings consist of four acres  of Cabernet Sauvignon; four acres of Shiraz and three  acres of Semillon.