Whilst finding the time at Tisdall immensely rewarding, John and wife Ann had for some time cherished the ambition to make a world-class sparkling wine, in the style of famous Champagne houses Bollinger and Krug. To do this John and Ann chose, in 1982, to establish their own winery at Hanging Rock in the very cool (ideal for sparkling wine grapes) Macedon Ranges Wine Region of Victoria. In 1985 and 1986, while establishing the new winery, John served as Executive Officer of the Victorian Wine Industry Association and then served as a VWIA committee member with early responsibility for developing Victoria’s Geographic Indicators program to define and register new and existing wine regions.

In the face of some criticism from their peers – accusations of copycats and not striving to produce a definitive Australian sparkler, the Ellises triumphed. The fact that a premium sparkling was not going to sustain them in the short term, meant that other wines were needed to fill out the portfolio. This lead to Jim Jim Sauvignon Blanc, which quickly gained a reputation as one of Australia’s best. So, now the portfolio had two premium whites and what it needed was a premium red to balance things out. Enter, Heathcote Shiraz.

John and Ann flirted with the idea of the Mt Camel Range as a sensational place to plant Shiraz. John Ellis was already making Mt Ida Shiraz for Leonard French and Dr Jim Munro. At that time, in the 1980s, there was little suitable land for sale in the Heathcote region. However there was an established vineyard available for lease, located on the southern slopes of Mt. Camel to the north of the Heathcote township. The opportunity to take on an established vineyard, and a good one at that, was too good to pass up.

The first ever Hanging Rock Heathcote Shiraz was the 1987 vintage, released in late 1988. And what a vintage it was, immediately claiming Gold Medals and compared with the current release Grange Hermitage by the Wine Press. And so the legend was born. Every subsequent vintage through to 1992 produced more great wine and added to the swag of awards. Hanging Rock Heathcote was now well established as a top Australian Shiraz and something of a cult wine.

Ann Ellis often says that she is very glad that her husband never worked for her father. Ann has two creative and determined men of the wine industry in her life, she is Murray Tyrrell's daughter. She was not only born into this business, the fourth generation in this famous winemaking family, but has worked in it all of her life. Ann has worked as personal assistant to Don Ditter of Penfolds. Penfolds also sent her to Adelaide for a time where she worked with Max Schubert and John Davoren. At the time when the whole Australian wine industry was shaking itself into new life and vigour, she was Cellar Manager at Bulletin Place for a chap called Len Evans. Today, as ever, John Ellis continues to work vigorously for the development of Wine and Food Tourism in Victoria. He is currently Chairman of Tourism Macedon Ranges and in March 2005 was invested as a Legend of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. In 2007 John received the Tourism Victoria Award for the Most Outstanding Contribution by an Individual.

The brand's international popularity is growing rapidly, with sales to the United States alone expected to increase from the current 2,000 cases to more than 50,000 over the next 12 months. The strength of the brand lies in dedication to quality wine-making, product consistency, intensive marketing and careful cost control.

The fruit for Cockatoo Ridge's wines is sourced from their own carefully tended vineyards and from reputable contract growers throughout the Barossa Valley. The skilled winemakers often identify additional sources of premium fruit in areas outside the Barossa Valley, without compromising the house style.

Cockatoo Ridge Wines operates on a quality fruit philosophy. While the winery aims for self-sufficiency in fruit supplies, the production system is also geared to sourcing premium grapes from growers who are contracted to meet strict quality standards.

Cockatoo Ridge's philosophy is to deliver optimal value to wine lovers, and to remain responsive to changes in the global wine markets. Long established expertise in viticultural practices has led to a vigorous planting program that's been initiated to ensure adequate supplies to satisfy Cockatoo Ridge's growing domestic and export demand.

The Cockatoo Ridge label was originally owned by Yalumba and was launched in 1991 with a NV sparkling wine. Since its release the label has grown into one of Australia's most recognized wine brands, with the product range now including a selection of table wines. In 2002 Cockatoo Ridge Wines was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Building on strong domestic sales and the introduction of new brands, Cockatoo Ridge have forged strategic relationships with leading distributors in international markets.

A fiercely independent, family-owned winery, Hunter's Wines was the combined dream of Ernie and Jane Hunter. It was the inspired foresight of the ever-enthusiastic Ernie, New Zealand’s unofficial wine ambassador, which recognised the vast potential of Marlborough as a premier wine-growing region. However, only five years after producing his first six award winning wines (in fact, the first six Hunter’s Wines to emerge), he was tragically killed in a motor accident at the age of 37.

In the aftershock of this, Jane, herself a highly qualified viticulturist with a long family history of Australian grape growing, resolved to build on the vineyard s proven potential. Through her strong determination, together with the talents of Chief Winemaker Gary Duke and eminent Australian oenologist Dr Tony Jordan, Hunter's Wines has achieved an enviable reputation both in this country and in the wine capitals of the world.

This list of industry accolades is impressive indeed. Quality not quantity was Ernie Hunter's catch cry and this philosophy lives on to this day. Since 1987 Jane has been owner, viticulturist and managing director of Hunter's Wines. During that time, the vineyard has expanded to 4 times its original size. Approximately 65% of this production is exported, particularly to the UK.

Jane was brought up in South Australian wine country. Her father grew grapes in the Riverland, just north of the famous Barossa Valley. After a short period studying animal husbandry, Jane changed her specialist area and is now a highly qualified viticulturist, with an Agricultural Science degree from the University of Adelaide. Jane was initially employed by Montana as national viticulturist, in charge of all Montana vineyards, organising research and development and liaising with managers and contract growers.

In 1983, the late Ernie Hunter and Jane began a fledgling winery near Blenheim using borrowed gear from an old cider factory in Christchurch. Four years later, after Ernie s sudden death, Jane took over the management of Hunter's Wines. The winery has continued to grow in size, annual output and reputation. To date, Hunter's Wines has won more than 100 gold medals at wine competitions, including London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Switzerland Australia and New Zealand.

Granite Hills winemaker is Llew Knight, son of the founders – Gordon and Heather Knight. Llew is a Wine Science graduate of Charles Sturt University, and a cool climate wine enthusiast. His winemaking philosophy is – to coax the most pronounced flavours from the classic varieties using a range of winemaking and oak management techniques, creating distinctive cool climate wine styles, marked by their complexity and aging ability.

The Granite Hills planting’s are the oldest in the Macedon Ranges region; their roots now well down into the old granitic sandy loam soils. It’s the good drainage and low fertility attributes of the soil at Granite Hills which is so beneficial to the balance of the vine, keeping the yields low and the quality of the grapes high. This ‘clean vineyard’ theme is also reinforced by the nature of the vineyard being very exposed to the prevailing winds - a factor which tends to lower humidity and therefore disease pressure as well as naturally limiting yields.

The Estate vineyard comprises 12 hectares of vines – 3 hectares each of Riesling and Shiraz, 2 hectares each of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, One hectare of Pinot Noir, and an additional hectare made up of smaller planting’s of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The ripening season at Granite Hills is long due to the southern latitude and altitude. This has the beneficial effect of allowing fruit characteristics to develop whilst still retaining good natural acidity. Vintage can continue into June in cooler years.

While its location places Granite Hills vineyard in a cool climate classification, careful management of the vines and moderation of grape yields, produce deceptively powerful and definitive varietal characters. Hand pruning and close attention to the management of the canopy allows for maximum penetration of sunlight to ripen the fruit, and selective hand picking is utilised to ensure only well ripened grapes enter the winery.

The focus at Granite Hills is to produce a select range of quality food wines. To show distinctive varietal and Regional characteristics, are well balanced, finely textured and structured to age over a 5 to 10+ year period. The philosophy is that "Great wines are made in the Vineyard". The approach in the winery is one of minimalist soft winemaking, utilising a mix of modern and traditional winemaking techniques. Only hand picked grapes are used. An elevated crushing system ensures that berries gently gravitate from crusher to press (whites) or to small open fermenters (reds). Not just gentle winemaking, this system leaves open options to many different winemaking techniques to optimise the character of all Granite Hills wines.