Paul Osicka

Discover the story behind Ricca Terra

In 2003 Ashley and Holly Ratcliff purchased a small 8Ha vineyard in the Riverland, South Australia. The vineyard was called Ricca Terra (Italian for Rich Earth). The soils found throughout the vineyard are red earth over limestone, which have the reputation for being very fertile. The vineyard purchased was planted to Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ruby Cabernet and Sultana. Ashley and Holly’s primary intent after purchasing the vineyard was to plant grape varieties appropriately suited to Australia’s warming and drying climatic conditions (Chardonnay was not one of these grape varieties). Their second intent, was to manage their vineyards in a manner that would produce high quality wines. This resulted in the elimination of machine pruning and harvesting in many of their vineyards, which is a common occurrence throughout the Riverland. Today (2019) Ricca Terra’s spread of vineyards is in excess of 80Ha, and one of the largest producers of climate adaptive grape varieties in South Australia. Ashley & Holly’s vision to evolve a traditionally planted vineyard into one that could adapt to extreme climatic changes goes beyond just grape variety selection. The use of drought tolerant rootstocks, soil surface mulches, soil moisture monitoring probed and smart viticulture management are all playing their part in building a vineyard for the future!