Wakefield Valley Vineyard was developed in 1994 by Michael and Correne Sandow, on land bought initially as farming country, but clearly destined for a greater good. With the help of family and in particular brother Tracy, the first vines were planted in October 1994 after finding sufficient underground water to sustain the vines through the dry summer months.

Along the banks of the Wakefield River, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon and of course Riesling were planted on the ideal red loam over limestone soil. These initially planted varieties were joined by Sangiovese, Merlot, Viognier and Tempranillo.

Although the majority of the fruit finds its way to several large wine producers, small parcels of the best fruit are kept to be made into wine for ourselves – with a little left over to sell!

Our flagship wine is the Sparkling Sangiovese.  First made in 2004, the natural acidity of Sangiovese makes it ideal as a sparkling wine, and was rewarded with a Bronze medal at the 2010 Adelaide Wine Show – competing in the same class with the traditionally heavier shiraz and cabernet.

Making wine has always been a smaller part of the business, and more so now with the  walnuts and pomegranates coming into production.