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CELLAR DOOR SALES
When we purchased the property several years ago, we inherited a 70 year old stable/blacksmith shop, made from hand hewn local red gum posts and clad with flattened out 44 gallon tar drums.
In an attempt to retain some of the districts past, we set about converting the old stables into a cellar door sales outlet.
Local stone was collected from nearby vineyards and used in the construction of the front wall, which we built in traditional style.
The old stable has now had a new lease of life and sits proud overlooking the township of Watervale and surrounding vineyard.
THE VINEYARD
Established in 1926 by William Neil Taylor Grace, one of the original families of the district.
A traditional Watervale vineyard of its time, was originally planted to Pedro Ximenez, Grenache and Riesling.
Over the years the vineyard has been upgraded to cater for current demands and is presently planted to Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
The vineyard has an easterly aspect overlooking Watervale, at an elevation of 500 metres above sea level. The soil varies from red loam to rich dark clay type, over limestone and slate. It has very good water retention properties, and is ideal for the production of classic Watervale Riesling and Shiraz
THE WINEMAKER
Proprietor and Winemaker of Stephen John Wines and a fifth generation Barossan, Stephen John has clocked up over three decades of winemaking, now settled in his own Stephen John Winery, nestling in a cozy valley at the southern end of the picturesque Clare Valley in Watervale.
Stephen John’s great grandfather, C.P. John, was the first cooper at Chateau Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, forging the first links with the Australian wine industry. His great grandson, Stephen John began his career at Seppelts in the Barossa Valley in 1969 as a laboratory technician.
From the outset Stephen John was born to be successful, with the young John given the task of making red wines for the 1971 Chateau Tanunda vintage and helping to produce the 1971 Dorrien Cabernet Sauvignon – which ended up winning the 1972 Jimmy Watson Trophy.
It was a propitious start for Stephen John. For the next 14 years he was a major driving force in the development of fine wines at Chateau Tanunda and Seppelts, being responsible for red wine production and the reintroduction of Sparkling Burgundy production at Great Western in Victoria while overseeing the launch of a raft of new releases.
In 1985 he was head-hunted to join Wolf Blass Wines as premium white winemaker, responsible for the production of the highly successful Wolf Blass Yellow Label Riesling and introducing the highly recognized and awarded Wolf Blass Gold Label Riesling, while producing the Show Release Chardonnay range.
In 1987 Wolf Blass bought the old Quelltaler Winery and Stephen John moved to the Clare Valley as General Manager of Operations for the Group, overseeing all production, but also acting as winemaker and manager of Quelltaler.
His love affair with the Clare Valley had begun.
Stephen John launched the Eaglehawk label for Wolf Blass, and worked happily for four years until Blass was taken over by the Mildara Group.
It was time for a change. During his time at Eaglehawk, Stephen John and wife Rita had fallen in love with the Clare Valley and the wines it produced.
Together, they found a small six-hectare (15 acre) vineyard outside Watervale – the year was 1991.
As Stephen recalls: “It was fully planted in vines – it was one of the original Watervale plantings from 1926 – but had been partially restructured before we bought it to carry Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pedro.
It was to become the home of Stephen John Wines.
He left the Mildara Group in late 1994, and he and Rita worked together to restructure the old fallen down horse stables on the property into a cellar door facility, design and print the Stephen John Wines label, put the first red wine into bottle and organise for the 1995 vintage. At the same time they began building a home on the property. Within eight months they had succeeded.
“Our aim then, as it is today, is to remain small and exclusive and to make a small selection of premium table wines,” he says.
“The backbone of our operation has always been Riesling and Shiraz, plus our beloved, Sparkling Burgundy.
From an initial crush of 50 tonnes, Stephen John Wines has grown.
In 1997 Stephen John installed a small refrigeration plant and stainless steel tanks into his embryo winery as the crush grew to 80 tonnes and contract work for other small wine companies in the area began to come his way.
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