Chris Ringland

With possibly the most well known name in Australian winemaking, you may be surprised to find out that Chris Ringland is actually a New Zealander. From humble beginnings in South Auckland making his first wine with grapes ‘obtained' from neighbours' backyards, he now produces some of the most sought-after red wines in the world. 

He developed his unique style working with Robert O'Callaghan at Rockford Wines in the Barossa for 15 years. Whi...

Although I have lived in the Barossa since the early eighties, I was fortunate enough to purchase my property in the Barossa Ranges in 1994.

At a little over seven acres and at 1,800 ft above sea level, I have immensely enjoyed the time it has taken to restore the Shiraz vineyard, which was planted in 1910. It took me 10 years of pruning and re-trellising to get the ancient vines back into sustainable shape.

Because we have never had Phy...

When I purchased the property, the Northern, South-East facing sector, surrounding the old settlers cottage, was bare pasture. I grazed sheep here for a few years, before planting 400 olive saplings in 1999, with the view of producing small amounts of olive oil. Dry grown, they have produced under 100 litres of olive oil in their lifetime. There is nothing quite as satisfying as home grown olive oil (well, perhaps home grown Shiraz beats it, b...