Small growers Simon and Kaye Clayfield, whose emerging Clayfield label has won some well-deserved praise for its complex and spicy shiraz, lost nearly two thirds of their Moyston vineyard in recent bushfires. The fire, which burned over fifty acres of farmland on the Clayfield and adjoining properties, began in a neighbouring property and was eventually contained just a metre from the couple’s home and winery located in the Grampians region of Western Victoria. Fortunately, while it will take some time to assess the ultimate effects of the localised disaster, which includes scorched and burned vines, plus significant damage to trellising and irrigation installations, there was no loss of life.
