Sitting upon a hill overlooking the Hunter Valley, vineyard owner Andrew Margan sees new homes where some of the world's oldest vines once grew.
With the NSW wine region set to mark 200 years, the industry is pushing to get the remaining vines world heritage listed to make sure no more can be pulled out.
"The early days of convicts and the first fleet brought cuttings from the Hill of Hermitage [France], for example, for shiraz," Mr Margan said.
Australia's untouched syrah, or shiraz, vines became the oldest remaining vine rootstock after an epidemic of the pest grape phylloxera destroyed most vineyards across Europe in the late 1800s.
As urban sprawl happens on the edge of towns across the Hunter, the protection of vines and the landscape that they stand on has become a priority.
"The world of wine has been wiped out by phylloxera, but the Hunter Valley hasn't," Mr Margan said.
"We seem to be constantly fighting planning instruments and coal mining in our vineyard area. What we really need is for the area to be protected and recognised for its value," Mr Margan said.
State frameworks must change first
While the history of the vines is hard to deny, Australia doesn't have any precedent for listing agricultural landscapes as heritage, except for Indigenous sites.
Although a handful of Hunter Valley wineries and vineyards have their own historical recognition based on the age and significance of their buildings, there is no protection for the landscape as a whole.
"In NSW or Australia, there is no agricultural landscape recognised for its heritage value with a European background. The Act does not allow for it," Mr Margan said.
Fourteen vineyard areas in the world are recognised as heritage by UNESCO, but without any recognition from Australia, the Hunter Valley can't progress to that status.
In a 2021 review, the NSW government supported the recommendation to change the Heritage Act 1977 to better incorporate cultural landscapes like wine regions, but with the 2028 deadline in sight — when the winemaking region turns 200 — no changes have been made so far.
Development creeps closer
Without any protection or official recognition of the vines' age, the wine industry including winery owner James Agnew fears the region is at risk.
"There's been developments that have been approved in recent times that will sit upon some of the most important viticulture sites in the country," Mr Agnew said.
"There's one site in particular that has been in continual wine grape production for over 100 years, and there's a hotel that's due to go on top of it."
History aside, the age of those vines is crucial to the region's award-winning reputation.
"One of our other vineyard sites have vines that are 120 years old … they get treated like treasured, priceless artworks," Mr Agnew said.
"They are the first thing we worry about when the weather goes a bit wonky … they also tend to be where our highest quality grapes come from as well."
Bruce Tyrrell's vineyard has some of the oldest vines in the region and he wants Australia's reputation to reflect that untold history.
"Australia has the oldest vines on the planet, no question," Mr Tyrrell said.
"I was just saying that to a group of sommeliers in France last week, and they just couldn't come to grips with it," he said.
"Once we get that listing, those vines are safe forever."
