The Cote Vineyard Story
The Wilkinson family is credited with establishing grape growing in the Pokolbin district in 1866 with the purchase of five properties in the foothills of the Brokenback Range.
Alfred Wilkinson and his family arrived back in Sydney from Europe on 12 December 1865, having previously visited Australia in the 1850s. The eldest sons had all undertaken viticulture studies in France and Germany.
Alfred was good friends with George Wyndham, and it was George who encouraged the Wilkinson family to settle in Pokolbin when large tracts of land were made available in the early 1860s.
The five properties consisted of Alfred’s — Cote d’Or — and his sons’: Charles — Mangerton, Frederick — Oakdale, William — Maluna, and John — Coolalta.
Alfred established the family home on a prominent rise at Cote d’Or with 360-degree panoramic views. By the late 1800s, all five properties were planted with hundreds of acres of vines surrounding Cote d’Or.
The Alfred Wilkinson family home is still at the Cote Vineyard, although now in disrepair. However,
the 12 x 5-tonne open fermenter vats built in the 1890s, once the centrepiece of the large Cote d’Or winery, are still in sound condition and feature as part of the winemaking of Riggs & Wiggs.
Frederick Wilkinson married Florence Stephen in 1875, and their son Audrey was born in 1877. Audrey Wilkinson’s name is etched into Hunter Valley folklore for his six-decade management of the Oakdale vineyard and winery.
Mangerton Vineyard
In 1866, Alfred Wilkinson’s eldest son, Charles, acquired 98 acres of land, naming it Mangerton after his mother’s birthplace in Cork, Ireland. Charles remained on the property until his passing in 1919. Remarkably, Alfred Wilkinson, born in 1801, outlived three of his sons during his long life, passing away in 1896.
In the late 1970s, Max Drayton revitalised the vineyard, replanting vines with cuttings from the historic Drayton Bull’s Paddock Semillon, planted in 1899. Mangerton’s clay-loam soils, combined with its predominantly east-facing slopes, create ideal conditions for viticulture. Block 1, a south-facing section with steep gradients, adds complexity to the site’s character and fruit quality.
Cullarin Vineyard
Our Cullarin vineyard rests on the east-facing slope of the Cullarin Range, on the shores of Lake George in New South Wales. Planted in 1971, it is the oldest vineyard in what is known as the Canberra District wine region. The well-drained granite shingle from the escarpment, mixed with layers of pebbles and sandy loams, allows the vine roots to access underground natural springs. Cullarin is ideally suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That said, the original Block 71 Shiraz is recognised as one of Australia’s top cool-climate Shiraz.
