This vineyard, in the White Hut subregion at the northern end of the Clare Valley, is very close to Adam and Amy's hearts. When they purchased the property in 2007, Atlas Wines was born. And it's where their children spent the first years of their lives, playing among the vines, in sun and dust, or cold and mud!

The land was one of many parts of the old Hill River Station that was divided up and given to workers. The block covers twenty acres and is now planted exclusively with Shiraz, with a mix of dry-grown vines planted around 1989 and irrigated vines planted around 2000. There was previously some Cabernet Sauvignon too, but these vines were removed in 2017 as they'd become tired and were underproducing. New Shiraz rootlings have now taken their place.

Adam describes the land as "tough and bony". The climate is more temperate than other parts of the valley, the topsoil is shallow and the vines have to work hard to produce fruit, resulting in small berries with intense flavours.

The Eaton Vineyard has been in the Eaton family since 1927. Rob and Sue Eaton are the third generation to grow grapes here, and their daughters, Melissa and Amanda, both work in the vineyard now too. The beautiful home that Rob and Sue live in was originally a shearing shed, built from local stone in the 1840s.

Many varieties of grape have been grown here. When the Eatons bought the property, there were Grenache and Pedro Ximénez vines, which had been planted around 1907. In subsequent years, there's been Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, as well as prune plums. But now, the plantings are exclusively Riesling, Chardonnay and Tempranillo.

The vines at the Eaton Vineyard grow in red soil over limestone and red clay, with irrigation and frost protection installed. Trellising is with a single cordon wire and two lift wires.