A MELBOURNE couple has the best of both worlds growing grapes just a short drive from the city centre at Coppin Grove Wines, reports ROSLYN LANIGAN

Every few minutes, the tranquillity at Michael and Ann Cohn's vineyard is disturbed by a dull, metallic rattle.

But it's not farm equipment, or even a car that's breaking the silence.

It's a six-carriage Connex train taking passengers to and from Melbourne.

The Cohns' 1000 chardonnay, pinot noir and nebbiolo vines are planted on the banks of the Yarra River in Hawthorn - just 4km from the CBD.

The vineyard, Coppin Grove Wines, was planted a decade ago, two years after the Cohns bought the 0.9ha property and built a new family home.

Auction results from 1996 show the property, boasting 70m of river frontage, was purchased for $1.404 million, when the median house price in Hawthorn hovered at $250,000.

That median has skyrocketed to $944,000 this year.

"We're very, very lucky," Michael said.

"It's the best of both worlds - the country lifestyle combined with city living."

Hawthorn is an ideal spot for grape-growing, thanks to its favourable climate and river-rich soil.

There are no frosts, and Coppin Grove's isolation from other vineyards ensures it is protected against fungal diseases.

"Our grapes ripen between a month and six weeks earlier than most vineyards, so we're picking at the end of February," Michael said.

"We watered the vines once for an hour and a half a couple of years ago, but that's it - otherwise it's reliant on rainfall.

"The biggest issue for us is that the soil is too good.

"It's river silt, so it retains the moisture and the vines grow very vigorously."

The vineyard is nestled between Hawthorn and Burnley train stations, and the Coppin Grove Wines logo depicts the bluestone pillars of the railway line visible from the Cohn's back yard.

Last year, the Cohns - helped by family and friends - picked 2.5 tonnes of grapes, producing 175 dozen bottles of mostly sparkling wine.

"We set up a big trestle table in the yard and have lots of food and wine and get the picking done," Michael said.

"We always have a wonderful day doing it."

Once picked, the grapes are trucked to winemaker David Cowburn at Cope-Williams Winery in Romsey, before being returned to Hawthorn for sale to family and friends and at local wine bars and shops.

The Cohns elected to plant wine grapes to indulge their love of the outdoors.

"We used to own a (505ha) farm at Naracoorte and we just loved the lifestyle," Michael said. "So we just thought 'why don't we put some vines in?'."

The vines also helped to make use of the flood-prone land behind the Cohn's home.

"The house is as close to the river as we are permitted to build," Michael said.

"We're not allowed to build below the 9.2-metre flood mark, but in the time we've been here the river has never even come to the top of the bank."

As unlikely as it seems, there's another commercial vineyard in the area, the Studley Park Vineyard in Kew.

That vineyard, also on the banks of the Yarra, produces cabernet sauvignon grapes which are processed at Granite Hills Winery in the Macedon Ranges.

While agricultural production may seem out of place in inner-suburban Melbourne today, Hawthorn, Kew and nearby Camberwell were once among the foremost wine-growing regions in Victoria.

In the 1850s, vineyards and vegetables lined the riverbank, making the most of the fertile soil.

A photograph taken in 1904 shows a market garden flourishing on the Coppin Grove site.

More than 150 years of intense cultivation of the land has meant much of Michael and Ann's time in the vineyard is spent pruning the vigorous vines.

"Each vine takes about 15 minutes, so that's 300 working hours to do the whole vineyard - and it's just the two of us that do it. It's lucky that we enjoy it."