about
Nestled amidst bushlands in the McIvor Range Reserve, Devil’s Cave Vineyard is a family owned vineyard situated just past the Valley of the Liquid Ambers in Heathcote. The ancient soils are said to be some 500 million years old which display some of the best characteristics for Shiraz vines and helps us to produce the world class Shiraz that Heathcote is well known for.
The actual ‘Devil’s Cave’ is situated behind the vineyard on the McIvor range which lies adjacent to the township. The cave was once a place where aborigines sheltered and was occupied as far back as 1864 by prospectors exploring the area for gold. Our philosophy to making our wine is by using minimal chemical input in the vineyard to maintain a healthy soil life which also follows in the winemaking allowing the wine to speak its true sense of place.
Our Shiraz grapes are handpicked and destemmed into small open top fermenters. After gentle hand plunging throughout fermentation, the wine is then basket pressed into 100% French oak barrel (30% new oak) for malolactic fermentation, where it remains in barrel for a total of 15 months. The wine is racked twice throughout its maturation period, followed by a final racking and settling prior to bottling.
Steve johnson
winemaker
Steve’s involvement in the wine industry started in 2007 when he was speaking to a mate who had planted 200 vines and made 100 bottles of wine each year. Steve and his wife Gaye had just purchased 5 acres of land on the McIvor Range in Heathcote and were planning on building a house and a big garden. Naturally he found a spot for an acres worth of vines to be planted in place of his wife’s big garden.
Steve and Gaye helped their dear friends at Milvine Estate to prune their vineyard and they collected a few hundred cuttings from the Milvine Vineyard. These were planted in 2009 on the Devil’s Cave Vineyard site, and more again in 2010. Steve saw a winemaking and viticulture course at the local Community House so he quickly signed up to learn more about his growing passion.
Steve and Gaye had their first small vintage at Devil’s Cave Vineyard in 2012 sourcing extra fruit from Coliban Glen Vineyard in order to make up a full barrel. Luckily for Steve his niece Jade had just married a local winemaker, Luke Lomax, who offered to help make the first barrel for Devil’s Cave Vineyard. Both Steve and Luke enjoyed their first, small vintage together and later in 2012 they decided to enter into a partnership and Devil’s Cave Vineyard began.
Previously to his interest in the wine industry Steve worked in the boat trailer manufacturing industry for around 40 years. Steve owned Easytow Boat Trailers in Heathcote which his father Ray Johnson had founded in the nineteen fifties.
Steve’s expert knowledge in engineering has lead to the creation of Devil’s Cave Racks business which was an idea of Luke’s when he saw a hole in the market for the need of larger barrel racks as wineries were starting to use larger format barrels for maturing their wines.
It seems these two have each brought to the table expert knowledge, years of experience and craftsmanship from their own specialised industries and they have managed to created a marriage of wine and steel which is proving to be a success in everything they do.
Luke lomax
winemaker
Having grown up in the local wine industry in Heathcote, Luke began his career at Heathcote Estate in the vineyard picking fruit on the weekends whilst he was still at high school. After completing high school, Luke went on to study a Wine Science Degree at Charles Sturt in Wagga-Wagga whilst continuing to work full time at Yabby Lake / Heathcote Estate.
Luke has been at Yabby Lake/Heathcote Estate for 18 years now and lives on the Mornington Peninsula with his wife and family, based out of the Yabby Lake site in Tuerong.
In 2012 Luke completed the AWAC Advanced Wine Sensory Course in Adelaide which has lead to a keen interest in wine show judging. To date Luke has been involved in the Melbourne, Victorian, Yarra Valley/ Halliday Chardonnay Challenge and Heathcote wine shows.
Luke has also worked six vintages overseas including two vintages in Burgundy at Domaine Bernard Moreau (Chassague Montrachet), one in the Rhone Valley at Domaine Perrie Gonon (Saint Joseph) and three at Escarpment in Martinborough, New Zealand.
Luke finds inspiration and pride in the ‘grass-roots’ process of creating a wine, guiding its evolution from the bunch of fruit in the very beginning to the end product in the bottle. The additional opportunity for travel is also a bonus and allows him to indulge a great love for Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
As if it wasn’t enough to be a Winemaker at Yabby Lake/Heathcote Estate, Luke jumped at the chance to start make a wine with his wife’s Uncle (his now business partner Steve) back in 2012. The camaraderie and fun that was had from their first vintage in 2012 lead to the development of a partnership later that year which has seen the Devil’s Cave Vineyard grow from producing one barrel of Shiraz, to adding a Cabernet Sauvignon, Rose and for the first time in 2019 the addition of a Pinot Gris to the Devil’s Cave Family.
Royal Adelaide Wine Show Our 2017 Shiraz won gold in the Section 1 - Still Wine category
2018 Royal Melbourne Wine Awards Our shiraz won Gold (95 points) in the Shiraz 2017 & Younger (Best Shiraz) category
2019 Sydney Royal Wine Show Our 2018 Shiraz won silver
2019 Royal Queensland Wine Show Our 2017 Shiraz won silver
2019 Royal Queensland Wine Show Our 2018 Shiraz won bronze
2018 Royal Melbourne Wine Awards Our shiraz won Bronze (88 points) in the Shiraz 2016 (Best Shiraz) category