Founding father, Yorkshireman Edwin Makereth, a farmer and miner, first planted vines around Avoca in 1887. His adviser was an Italian viticultural expert, Romeo Bragato, who claimed that Avoca was better suited to winegrowing than most other districts in the colony. He particularly noted the area's good drainage, and advised the planting of shiraz, pinot noir, mataro and verdelho. Romeo Bragato endeavoured to encourage other farmers to establish vineyards in the area.

The depression of the thirties, World War II and the wool boom of the forties eventually saw the demise of the fledgling local wine industry, and Avoca almost lost its viticultural heritage. In the early 1960s, ex-schoolteacher turned earth moving contractor, Walter Henning combined forces with some Ballarat businessmen and began the search for land to plant a vineyard. They hired a plane and flew all around the Pyrenees, looking for a suitable site. Finally they settled on the Moonambel area.

The current 1700 acre site, which Walter Henning was to baptize Taltarni, became one of the founding wineries of the new age of the Pyrenees. The original sixty acres of vines were developed by David Hohnen, who later went on to found Cape Mentelle in Margaret River. After seeing Taltarni through it's natal period, Walter Henning passed the estate onto John Goelet (and Red Earth Nominees Pty Ltd) shortly thereafter in 1972.

John Goelet selected Taltarni Vineyards after a worldwide search of the finest wine growing regions. The chosen site, with its red clay, quartz and sandy loam soils and cool Continental climate, was destined to produce premium quality, internationally acclaimed wines. In 1976, viticulturalist David Hohnen handed the reins to Dominique Portet, whose brother, Bernard helped find the vineyard on behalf of John Goelet. Bernard Portet had previously operated John Goelet's Napa Valley vineyard, Clos du Val. The dedication and energy of this formidable team carved Taltarni's early growth and international success.

From the outset there was a strong French influence, no more evident than in the vineyards which were planted to the classic Franco grapes. Taltarni has consolidated on a strong international reputation for its portfolio of premium wines, especially the long-living red wines, sensational Methode Champenoise styles and varietal sauvignon blanc (originally labelled as Fume Blanc).

Forester Estate have built relationships with a number of key growers to ensure access to older vineyards. Considering that Margaret River is only 40 years old as a commercial wine growing region, vines greater than 20 years of age are considered mature here! Sourcing fruit from up to 14 vineyards in a given vintage allows plenty of options. Forester's Home vineyard was historically referred to as Redland Valley. It was planted on an open lyre trellising system in 1995. The property runs north-south up the eastern flowing Wildwood Valley. The open lyre trellis demands more manual labour and less machinery doing the work. The resulting decreased vigour and increased sunlight penetration provide unique fruit qualities that favour riper fruit spectrums and fully developed tannins.

Each property has unique site characteristics that are reflected in the fruit it grows. In some cases individual blocks of fruit on the one vineyard are picked in stages to further isolate subtle soil boundaries impacting on fruit quality. These unique site characteristics of soil composition, aspect to the sun, drainage patterns and climate all interact in almost magical ways to stamp a vineyard’s fruit with a certain quality.

There is a growing trend for Australian producers to focus more specifically on small, unique vineyard blocks with exceptional terroir to create their premium and ultra-premium wines. Forester Estate is absolutely committed to this approach to fruit sourcing with considerable resources applied to small batch winemaking in an effort to discover the gems that lie among the hills and valleys of Margaret River.

With lower rainfall and higher sunshine hours than the southern end of the region, and being impacted by the large body of warm water in Geographe Bay to the northeast, the Yallingup sub region lends towards riper, fruitier white wines and finely structured elegant reds. Finding good vineyard sites is a big part of the quality pie, but it is not all of it. Viticultural management practices are crucial to the maximizing of fruit potential and to the protection of Forester’s assets in years of adverse weather or strong disease pressure.

The decisions that can be made in establishing a new vineyard are endless, however once well established the approach to each vineyard is more or less the same – minimal inputs for the most natural output attainable. Irrigation is only used if absolutely required to keep vine health at an optimum. Forester's white wines consistently exhibit delightful fresh and lively fruit flavours balanced with crisp acidity and deliver a delicious, lingering, dry finish. White grapes are either hand or machine picked and transported the short distance to the winery for rapid chilling and processing. Tremendous varietal character, excellent balance and complexity, subtle oak and a lovely soft tannin finish typify Forester’s reds. Machine harvesting is not possible on the intensive open lyre trellis design. On selected parcels chilling may be employed before a long cold soak at the start of a ferment, however the typical approach is to crush to a small open fermenter and inoculate with yeast immediately.

In 1913, John James McWilliam planted the first vines at Hanwood, just 8kms south of the thriving agricultural town of Griffith in New South Wales; and in 1917 he established McWilliam's Hanwood winery. Today, this same winery is a large modern facility, one of the largest in the region - with an average crush of 18,000 tonnes and a storage capacity of more than 22 million litres.

Not only was he responsible for the trial of premium varieties previously unknown in the district, he was also responsible for leading the way in developing the winery technology necessary to produce table wines in a hot summer climate. Just as John James led the way in 1913, so it was Glen McWilliam that pioneered the region's move into table wines during the mid-1950s.

The Riverina is today credited with producing more than two-thirds of New South Wales wine and almost one-quarter of Australia's total wine production. The constant, even rainfall, rich and fertile soil and warm temperatures during the ripening season make the Riverina ideally suited to viticulture.

McWilliam's Hanwood Estate - one of Australia's leading premium quality wine ranges, is a blend of high quality fruit from a range of vineyard sites within South Eastern Australia. McWilliam's Hanwood Chardonnay is one of the most consistently awarded white wines at its price point and arguably the fastest growing Chardonnay in the domestic market.

Fruit is predominantly sourced from the Riverina and Hilltops regions in New South Wales, the Yarra Valley in Victoria, and Coonawarra in South Australia. The diverse fruit supply provides the winemaking team with a broader range of blending options and enables them to produce a range of wines that are high in quality and consistent in style from one year to the next.

Prior to launching his family label of Glen Eldon Wines, Richard gained his experience as Winemaker/ General Manager at Elderton and previously at St Hallett Wines. Mary and Richard have successfully built Glen Eldon into a premium winery specialising in regional wines of distinctive quality. Glen Eldon today produces premium wines that display the world known and admired characters of the Barossa.

The Barossa is made up of the Valley floor and the Barossa Ranges (Eden Valley) and has built the reputation as Australia’s premier viticulture and winemaking region. Vines were first planted in the Barossa in the 1850’s and today the Barossa is alive with prosperity from the wine and associated industries.

Barossa Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Eden Valley Riesling have offered distinctive regional characters that have captured the imagination of wine drinkers the world over, it was with this tradition and quality that the Barossa was selected as the home for the Sheedy Family winery.

With vineyards in Tanunda, Mt McKenzie, Springton and North East of Mt Pleasant, Glen Eldon have the ability to select only the best parcels of fruit for winemaking. These vineyards all offer distinctive sub-regional characters. The variation in soil, rainfall, row facing and pruning, combined with attention to detail in vineyard management, consistently produce premium fruit.

The philosophy is to highlight the regional characters to the fullest. Modern winemaking knowledge is fully utilised for quality control. Traditional vinification techniques also have their place. Glen Eldon continue to ferment wines in traditional open fermenters with heading down boards and pump over regularly for full flavour and colour extraction. A mixture of French and American hogsheads is employed for barrel maturation. Ageing is dependent on each parcel, but generally carried out for eighteen to twenty for months. All wooded wines are remarkable for their well integrated oak and fine tannins. Theie sensational Eden Valley whites display brightly lit fruit, distinctive varietal expression, and clean varietal characters.