Huon Hooke, The Real Review 14OCT25
Jeffrey Grosset and Stephanie Toole’s Grosset and Mount Horrocks back-labels have no mention of added fining agents like eggs, milk or nuts. They’re vegan-friendly “but that’s not why we do it”, says Grosset.
“People fine their wine to remove unwanted or undesirable tannins, but we think it’s best to avoid them in the first place. If you avoid the negative characteristics you don’t need to remove them.”
It makes sense. Fining is one of the winemaking options that were referred to as ‘remedial winemaking’ when I was at winemaking school.
“Biodynamics has been a revelation. The results are extraordinary. It’s taken it to whole new level.” – Jeffrey Grosset
Grosset and Mount Horrocks wines are all grown on their own biodynamically farmed and certified vineyards. Over many years of farming the same land they have worked out how to produce grapes with all the qualities they want, and none of those they don’t want.
“No residues” could be another selling point, as the chemicals they spray are only those permitted by the biodynamic protocol.
It was obvious at a sometimes-hilarious joint trade presentation they did in Sydney recently that the couple have become proselytes for biodynamic viticulture.
Says Grosset:
“Biodynamics has been a revelation. The results are extraordinary. It’s taken it to whole new level.”
Both had their vineyards certified in 2018.
Jeffrey concedes it was his wife’s idea.
“Like a lot of my good ideas, Stephanie had it first,” he jests. “I tend to be conservative, to hang back and observe before committing, but Steph just jumps in straight away.”
Steph adds:
“Our vineyard guys love biodynamics. They don’t have to spray herbicides, and they work in a clean, chemical-free environment.”
Stephanie Toole of Mount Horrocks Wines. Mount Horrocks Wines
Instead of burying cow horns stuffed with cow pooh to make their own Preparation 500, they use a ‘shit pit’. Cow horns are scarce these days as modern cattle are mostly bred to have no horns.
“You can buy the preparations ready-made but we prefer to do it ourselves,” Stephanie adds.
They collect the fresh dung from lactating cows and bury it in a pit in the vineyard for nine months. The result is then diluted with water, dynamised, and applied as a foliage spray.
Says Steph:
“The soil smells sweet, and I’ve smelled some soils which smell sour. The soil is very friable: the rain penetrates it easily. If you have hard soils, the rain just runs off.”
And in a mostly dry environment like the Clare Valley, this is important.
The couple share a winery, but their vineyards are separate and both grow all of their own grapes. “The vineyards face each other but are very different,” says Steph.
They share a lot of things, but they don’t share shit pits!
Jeffrey continues the theme:
“Steph was first with indigenous yeasts too. I was a bit nervous about it but she just jumped in and it was marvellous.”
All of their red ferments are ‘wild’, and the whites are seeded with neutral yeasts.
Biodynamics is another example: “I get some of my best ideas when Steph is talking,” says a deadpan Grosset.
“With biodynamics, the wines are more expressive when they’re young. They look more settled and expressive. We have had several extraordinary years, though. In these dry years, some vineyards in Clare struggled but ours were green, bright and healthy.”
“The 2025 harvest was the earliest year I’ve experienced in 25 years,” says Jeff, “but the fruit looked fresh, and the wines are not necessarily the fuller, rounder wines that you might expect in an earlier year.”
Picking the grapes earlier was a positive factor, which possibly preserved more acidity, freshness and delicacy.
Steph and Jeff are a model example of a couple who each make great wine, but in their own way and their own style. Like all the best couples, they complement each other, and their wines do likewise.
Steph and Jeff are a model example of a couple who each make great wine, but in their own way and their own style.
Steph makes straight cabernet sauvignon, straight nero d’avola and straight shiraz; Jeff makes a cabernet blend and a shiraz/nero d’avola blend. She makes a barrel fermented semillon; he makes a fiano. She makes a sweet wine (Cordon Cut Riesling); he doesn’t. He makes chardonnay and pinot noir; she doesn’t. Nice demarcation there!
Steph makes the occasional remark that brings the house down, such as “I fell in love with Polish Hill before the man!”
Amen to that.
