History

In 1967 Robert Ritchie, third generation beef and prime lamb farmer at Delatite, went on a ski holiday at Mt Buller, with Jim Irvine, “The Master Merlot Maker”, from the Barossa Valley. One can only imagine what they discussed, but twelve months later, to everyone’s surprise, 500 vine sticks were left at the bottom of their drive. His wife Vivienne planted them in her vegetable garden and in the spring of 1968, with the help of their friends, they planted their first vineyard. For the next ten years they worked in collaboration with Peter and John Brown from Brown Brothers, growing varieties and developing wine styles suited to their climate. 

In 1982 they built their own winery and cellar door. Vivienne took on the marketing and selling, Robert and their son David worked the vineyard and they employed their daughter Ros as the winemaker. 

The winery is now run by David, with the assistance of the hard working and innovative winemaker, Andy Browning.

Read more about our history on our new bloghere