About Us

HOW IT ALL BEGAN...
Anne and Dave met in London in 1999 – two Aussie backpackers working and saving for their next big adventure. Dave already had plans to plant his own vineyard back in WA and Anne was only too happy to help him research different wine varieties.
London’s fantastic wine bars and its proximity to Europe's great wine regions opened up a whole new world of Iberian wine which hadn’t really made it to Australia yet. Anne fell in love with Rioja and David was captivated by the Douro Valley.
With a beautiful vineyard site purchased back in South West WA in 2000, decisions had to be made about what to plant.

WHY SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE VARIETIES?
A thousand Merlot cuttings were ready to go – but a last minute trip to Rioja, a one-liner in Dr John Gladstones' book mentioning “Donnybrook would be good for fortifieds” and some subsequent climate matching to Rioja & the Douro – led us to make a crazy decision …
We loved Iberian wines so we decided to grow the grapes to make the wines we liked to drink.

FAMILY TRADITION

 
Dave’s father emigrated from Calabria to Western Australia with his family back in the 1950’s. They had been living a subsistence lifestyle in the mountains behind Caulonia and brought all their traditions with them including grape growing and wine making. Dave grew up in SW WA picking and stomping grapes with his siblings and cousins while his Dad and all the Uncles made wine for the family – fuelled by delicious feasts from the Aunties.

PERFECT SITE

The Mazza Vineyard has north-east facing slopes, rich soils, good water supply, ideal sunlight hours and reliable rainfall along with a lovely Mediterranean climate. Basically it's the perfect site for growing Iberian varieties and premium quality fruit.

ALTERNATIVE VARIETIES

Our plantings have been inspired by our travels through Spain and Portugal and the fantastic wines of Rioja and the Douro Valley. We are proud to produce an Australian translation of these Old World heritage varieties and believe we are the only Australian vineyard to present this collection from a single site.

OUR RIPPLE EFFECT ON THE WA WINE INDUSTRY
Since our first vintage in 2004 we have been fortunate to attract some of West Australia's top wine makers. Impressed by working with our beautiful fruit, many have gone on to incorporate these "alternative" varieties into their own vineyards and winemaking, offering greater diversity to the wine lovers of Australia.

We are very proud to present our roll-call of wonderful wine makers over the last two decades: 

Janice McDonald, Stella Bella
Stuart Pym, Stella Bella
Oliver Crawford, Devil's Lair
Julian Scott, Flametree
Andrew Hoadley, Castelli Estate
Mike Garland, Castelli Estate
Mark Messenger, Juniper Estate
Dylan Arvidson, LS Merchants 
Courtney Treacher, Houghtons
Jeremy Hodgson, Fermoy Estate