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When Chris and John Gillies-Williams started planning for the second half of their lives after successful careers in business, they initially looked for a beach place on the Mornington Peninsula. The vision was of a house right on the beach where you opened the front door and walked out onto the sand with Rupert, their Great Dane Mastiff, who would be free to run and play.
Translating this vision into reality was impossible, there are very few dog friendly beaches on the peninsular. So the adapted vision became a much larger piece of land north of the divide, where magnificent views of rolling hills would replace their beach dream and where Rupert would be free to run, no roads, no houses, just peace and quiet.
The idea of a vineyard had never really entered there heads The idea emerged from looking at properties growing and selling grapes north of the divide. Many wine lovers dream about owning a vineyard and making great wine for many years, but Chris and John can’t claim that. They had little idea how the wine business worked, but they were ready for a change of scene in a big way. Both loved the Heathcote region reds which narrowed the search for land, eventually finding 100 acres of heaven at Redesdale situated at the southern end of the Heathcote Wine Region.
Chris and John planted Rupert’s Ridge Vineyard in 2003 and 2004, Shiraz, Viogner and Vermentino. They started with a “blank sheet” of grass and a great deal of ignorance adding new meaning to the saying “ignorance is bliss”. Alan Cooper of Cobaw Ridge agreed to be advisor and winemaker, producing their first vintage in 2006.
Viticulture and wine making were obviously not amongst their core competencies but they understood very clearly from Alan Cooper that you can’t make fine wine from inferior fruit. They set out to grow the very best vines and produce absolutely superior fruit and they have succeeded scoring a 93 from James Halliday with there first vintage in 2006. The house and part of the vineyard were destroyed in the 2009 fires giving the opportunity to rebuild not only the house, but to establish Rupert’s Ridge Retreat, giving others the opportunity to sit on top of the world and experience the peace, quiet and open air of Rupert’s Ridge
The vines have been joined by Olives, Almonds, fruit trees, cows, alpacas and sheep. There next challenge is to re-establish the gardens around the new house. Taste the wine, easy to order and pay for online or come and stay at the retreat,
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