Manon
Farm
600 meters above sea level, looking down to the Indian Ocean. 600-million-year-old Cambrian soils. A chef and a New Zealand biodynamic legacy farmer making wine from abandoned vineyards and ancient rocks.
Tim Webber (chef) and Monique Milton (from New Zealand's pioneering Millton family—first biodynamic vineyards in the country) moved to Forest Range in 2016. They inherited 25 acres with 15 under vine, planted progressively since 1993. The rest? Orchards, vegetable gardens, native forest, and 100 mixed heritage fruit trees for cider.
Tim Webber
Former chef at interesting restaurants worldwide. Brings kitchen patience and precision to the cellar. Makes wine fluently, dynamically—nothing added, nothing taken away, released only when ready.
Monique Milton
From Gisborne, NZ's Millton family—parents established the country's first recognized biodynamic vineyards. Brings generational knowledge of holistic farming, dry farming, and working with cosmic rhythms.
The Abandoned Vineyard Project
Wild Nature: wines made from vineyards left to nature. Uncultivated for years, now rescued in exchange for wine.
Wild Nature
Find abandoned vineyards, speak to landowners, offer wine in exchange for grapes. Tiny bunches in full sunshine and hidden shade—no pruning, no cultivation, pure survival. Cloudy, textural, savoury wines with fine-grained tannins. The white comes from a horse paddock, the red from a forgotten Pinot/Merlot site.
Vines uncultivated for 5+ years produce intense, concentrated fruit. The project proves that neglect can become terroir, and that wine can be made from what others abandon.
"We wish not to control Nature but to work with, listen to and be attentive every step of the way."— The Manon Philosophy
The Wines
Extended elevage, gravity bottling, natural corks. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Savagnin, plus Italian varieties (Garganega, Aleatico, Malvasia) and new Gamay/Trousseau plantings. Very limited production—some years, tiny.
Eleusis Noir
Red clay over schist. 25-year-old vines, 777 clone. Hand-destemmed, bright red fruit melting into earthier tones. Mineral driven, alive, in its prime. Named for the Eleusinian Mysteries—agriculture cult honoring Demeter, queen of harvest.
25yo Vines
Red Clay/Schist
Pino Nori
30-year-old vines, red clay and schist. Nine months in aged barrels, two lunar cycles in tank, two years in bottle. Electric blueberry and raspberry. Precise, beaming, ready now or age for savoury depth.
2 Lunar Cycles
2 Years Bottle Age
Yellow
Chardonnay (20%), Sauvignon Blanc (50%), Pinot Gris (30%). Overnight maceration, pressed to large oak. One sun cycle in barrel, three lunar cycles in tank. Searing brightness opening to honeyed aromas, luscious texture, nutty finish. The most complex wine they've released.
Large Oak
1.5 Years in Bottle
Farm Rosato
Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir. Direct press, unfiltered, salmon-pink. Fresh red berry with herbal complexity. The chillable red wine masquerading as rosé.
Direct Press
Chillable
Wild Nature White & Red
White: Sauvignon Blanc from a 5-year-abandoned horse paddock. Cloudy orange, lemon and tangerine, delicate savoury texture. Red: Pinot/Merlot from forgotten vineyard. Cherry, plum, strawberry, fine-grained structure. Both unfiltered, unfined, zero sulfur.
No Sulfur
Survival Fruit
Visit & Contact
Forest Range, Adelaide Hills—600m elevation with views to Gulf St Vincent. By appointment. Acknowledging the traditional lands of the Peramangk and Kaurna peoples.
Location
Forest Range
Adelaide Hills
South Australia
Elevation
600 Meters
Cool Gulf Breezes
Long Slow Ripening
Soils
Cambrian Schist
Quartz Seams
Red Clay
Method
Biodynamic
Dry Farmed
Nothing Added