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Kingston Estate Wines has grown rapidly since Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis first developed their 40 acre vineyard in 1979 in South Australia's Riverland wine region. Today, Kingston is the 10th largest wine producer in Australia and remains one
Their son, managing director and chief winemaker, Bill Moularadellis, joined the family business in 1985 as a young Oenology graduate from Roseworthy College with a vision to produce premium wines from the Riverland. His first crush in 1986 produced 60 tonnes (principally reds) and in that year the first commercial vintage of 4,500 cases of wine was produced.
Vineyard Development
In April 1998 the company commenced a development of its own vineyards. The centrepiece of this large development was the extensive planting of two emerging grape varieties - Merlot and Petit Verdot. Both varieties have been identified as perfectly suited to the warm climate Riverland region, producing wines of rare richness and structure, and are now enjoying considerable wine show success. Most recently, the Kingston 2002 Echelon Petit Verdot won top gold at the 2003 Royal Melbourne Show and was in the taste-off for the Jimmy Watson Memorial trophy.
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Today, it's still proudly a family business. Success has been driven largely by export markets in the UK and Europe where consumers love our flavoursome, excellent value for money style of wine.
With the growth of the company came the expansion of production, storage and wood maturation facilities. The winery facility has the capability of producing in excess of one million cases of premium varietal wines each vintage. 60% of production is shipped overseas to the traditional markets of UK, United States, New Zealand and Sweden, along with the emerging markets of Germany, Canada, China and Singapore.
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However, not content to be restricted by wine varieties and established styles, Kingston took a decision in early 1999 to secure grower contracts and source long-term fruit supply from regions outside of the Riverland.
This expanded source provided the opportunity to meet growing consumer demand while further increasing wine quality, varietal blend options and style development. This expanded fruit resource has contributed to improved wine quality and structure; most noticeably in the commercially available Kingston Estate range of wines - being more reflective of South Australia's best regional qualities.
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