Our Story

We were a couple, wanting to bring up our three small children in the country. The dream of a large yard, the freedom to roam the great outdoors, own numerous pets, have a big vegetable patch and be part of a small community appealed to us greatly. We fell in love with a house and it’s magnificent view over Lake Cairn Curran. The catch! The house came with an established Shiraz vineyard. We thought, “ we love wine, we love the house, we love the outdoors, we love to learn new skills, we love an adventure and challenge- lets do the bare minimum and keep the vines alive whilst the children are so little! We will make wine in a couple of years!” So we bought! Our first Spring we were blessed with rain, fantastic rain! As we realised how therapeutic tending a vineyard in the evening can be. As we watched our magnificent Shiraz vines respond to the wet Spring producing beautiful grapes, our plans changed again! We decided it would be a travesty to not produce wine from our first precious crop. So began Whitlocks Vineyard!

Eight years on it has been a rewarding adventure! At times, the romantic ideal of owning a vineyard has been challenged especially by drought and rabbits. Despite the challenges, our hardy Shiraz vines have produced grapes, even in record dry years, a joy that does not fade. We have fallen in love with the life we have chosen. We can watch the sun rise daily, illuminating an ancient landscape, that is beautiful lush and sunburnt! There is no doubt, it has been a steep learning curve! Most importantly we have learnt producing good quality grapes and making wine is both art and science.

We hope you enjoy our wine as much as we do!