LOOKING AFTER THE LAND: VITICULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY AT MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN
At Mount Langi Ghiran, the vineyard has always been inseparable from the landscape around it. Set between the dramatic granite peaks of Mount Langi Ghiran and Mount Cole, vines sit alongside native forest, wetlands and endemic vegetation, within an environment that has shaped both the wines and the way the land is cared for. Approximately 200 acres of the property are dedicated to native forests, wetlands and plantations of endemic trees and shrubs.
Even the name Langi Ghiran speaks to this connection. Derived from Lar-ne-jeering in the language of the local Djab Wurrung people, meaning “home of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos”, it is a reminder of the wildlife and ecosystems that have long been part of this place.
Today, that connection informs an approach to viticulture built around observation, experience and long-term stewardship.
A LIFETIME OF KNOWLEDGE
At the centre of the vineyard is General Manager and Viticulturist Damien Sheehan, working alongside a vineyard and winery team whose collective experience at Mount Langi Ghiran extends well beyond 100 vintages. Some members of the team have spent more than three decades on the property, while others have left, gained experience elsewhere and ultimately returned.
It creates an unusually deep bank of knowledge. The slopes, tracks and individual vineyard blocks are understood not simply from maps or seasonal data, but from years spent working among them.
Vintage 2026 offered a clear reminder of why that knowledge matters. Warm early conditions initially suggested an earlier harvest, before cooler weather slowed ripening considerably. January heatwaves placed pressure on the vines, while later in the season the challenge became one of patience, allowing fruit the time it needed to develop while managing persistent bird pressure and changing harvest timelines.
For Damien Sheehan, the season also reflected the value of decisions made well before the first fruit was picked.
“It felt like a lot of our work over the last five years clicked into place.”
Investment in irrigation, cane pruning and a greater focus on soil and plant health had gradually strengthened the resilience of the vineyard. Vintage 2026 showed that the quality of a season is never shaped by one year alone. It is influenced by the accumulation of decisions made over many seasons.
A VINEYARD WITH A BROADER ECOSYSTEM
Long-term thinking extends beyond the vines.
Mount Langi Ghiran’s earliest environmental initiatives focused on salinity and riparian degradation. Endemic trees were planted in recharge zones, fragile waterways were protected through exclusion fencing and wetlands were rehabilitated. As this work developed, biodiversity became an increasingly important part of how the estate approached the broader landscape.
Today, that includes restoring habitat for species that historically formed part of the local ecosystem.
One project of particular significance is the restoration of habitat for the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. Historical records suggest that some of the plant species important to the cockatoo were considerably more common before widespread land clearing during the nineteenth century.
To help rebuild this habitat, the team is planting local species including Silver Banksia, Drooping Sheoak and Hakea decurrens. These plantings provide potential sources of food and shelter for the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo while bringing wider ecological benefits for other native wildlife.
The result is a landscape in which vines and native ecosystems exist alongside one another. Kangaroos, native birds, frogs and insects are a familiar presence across the property and, for the vineyard team, among the most visible indicators of a healthy environment.
PRACTICAL DECISIONS, MADE FOR THE LONG TERM
Many of Mount Langi Ghiran’s sustainability initiatives are deliberately practical.
Sheep graze throughout the vineyard to manage pasture growth, encouraging nutrient cycling while reducing the need for machinery. At the same time, the estate is working towards eliminating treated timber posts from its vineyards.
The solution is coming, quite literally, from within the property.
Trees planted more than 30 years ago for agroforestry and land management are now being milled for vineyard trellis posts. The approach puts an existing estate resource to practical use while allowing the affected plantation areas to continue evolving with improved biodiversity outcomes in mind.
Recent revegetation and water-quality projects are also beginning to strengthen the broader landscape. Native grasses and eucalypts are re-establishing along waterways, helping restore areas beyond the vineyard itself.
These initiatives sit within Mount Langi Ghiran’s commitment as a certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, but certification is not treated as an endpoint. The focus remains on continual improvement and responsible stewardship of the estate.
As the team reflected during Vintage 2026:
“It’s not so much about improving our end product. It’s just looking after the land that gives us so much.”
It is a simple sentiment, but one that captures the philosophy particularly well.
RESILIENCE BUILT OVER TIME
Viticulture is measured in seasons, but meaningful change often takes much longer.
A tree planted now may take years to establish. A rehabilitated wetland develops gradually. Improvements to soil and plant health reveal their value over successive growing seasons, particularly when conditions become challenging.
Vintage 2026 demonstrated this clearly.
As the season shifted from early warmth into a longer, slower ripening period, the vineyard team had to respond rather than impose a predetermined timetable. Fruit remained on the vine longer than initially expected, with harvest decisions guided by flavour development and conditions in individual blocks. The extended growing season ultimately allowed for gradual flavour development, including some of the latest Shiraz fruit harvested anywhere in Australia that season.
Early tastings suggested that patience was rewarded, with Shiraz in particular showing considerable promise.
That resilience cannot be attributed to a single initiative. It is the product of accumulated knowledge, careful farming and an understanding that the needs of a vineyard change from one season to the next.
A SENSE OF PLACE, CARRIED INTO THE WINE
Ultimately, the connection between landscape and vineyard can be found in the wines themselves.
Cliff Edge Shiraz is sourced exclusively from Mount Langi Ghiran’s estate vineyards and takes its name from the dramatic cliff faces overlooking them. The same rugged landscape being cared for through revegetation, habitat restoration and considered vineyard practices is the landscape that shapes the wine’s cool-climate character and hallmark pepper and spice.
It is difficult, then, to separate the wine from the health of the place in which it is grown.
For Damien Sheehan and the vineyard team, sustainability is less about any single initiative than a way of thinking about the estate over the long term. It means understanding what has come before, recognising what the landscape needs today and making decisions that will matter many vintages from now.
The ambition is straightforward: to leave Mount Langi Ghiran healthier and more resilient than it was found.
