All Saints Estate is a family owned winery established in 1864 and located on the banks of the Murray River in Wahgunyah, Victoria.
Original owners George Sutherland Smith, born in 1830, and his friend John Banks, born in 1833, arrived from Cathiness, Scotland in 1852. They were 23 and 20 years of age, and settled in the Wahgunyah area in 1864. They had both trained as engineers at the Edinburgh Railway Institute. They built a bridge over the Edwards River at Deniliquin during their first years in Australia as well as buildings in Beechworth including the Presbyterian Church, part of the gaol and the original hospital of which the façade still remains.
Wahgunyah had been first settled by Mr Faithfull, who acquired ‘Bonthorambo’, but he did not stay due to trouble with the indigenous Australians. The first permanent settler was the Rev. J.B Docker who, in 1838, settled at Bonthorambo and held all the land from the Ovens River to the Murray River as a cattle run. Rev. Docker did not retain the whole Ovens River to Murray River District for long as other squatters moved in, among whom was James Lindsay Brown who became the pioneer vinegrower of the Rutherglen district.
Smith and Banks began growing vines at ‘Sunday Creek’ nearer to Wahgunyah than present All Saints Estate winey, before coming to where the 'castle' is, three miles north of Wahgunyah, in 1869. The partners took up 100 acres and proceeded with planting vines in earnest whilst also constructing the pise cellars made from the estate soil.
An 'Argus' supplement of 1888 dealing with the Melbourne Exhibition stated that the All Saints Estate castle was built over the original pise building housing the maturing wine, which was left undisturbed over this time.
We are one of the smaller wineries in Rutherglen, but we boast a large range of wines. Howard Anderson has 48 years experience in the wine industry, including 40 years making Sparkling wines. He and his daughter Christobelle make all of our wines on site, in small, hand made batches (most of our wines are 100 - 200 dozen total production).
We use modern knowledge combined with traditional methods such as dryland viticulture, hand harvesting, basket pressing, and the traditional Champagne technique entirely by hand.
Andrew is a third generation winemaker from the iconic Buller winemaking family that began making wine at “Calliope” in 1921. Andrew graduated from Scotch College in 1974 and after a short stint gaining experience at home, he followed his brothers to Roseworthy College in 1978. Graduating in 1980, Andrew has undertaken vintages in New Zealand for Corbans (1979), Stanly Leasingham Clare (1980), Taylors Portugal (1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986) and Beaujolais France (1986).
In 1987 Andrew purchased a 110 acre property in the Indigo Valley, comprising of well drained granitic soils. This higher altitude, cooler climate site was more suitable for the production of varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot noir, Merlot and Cabernet.
In 2015 Andrew and Wendy Buller purchased the 150 year old Graham Bros Cannobie Estate, a historic 75 acre property. Just 2.5 kilometers from the center of Rutherglen, the estate boasts a small vineyard containing Shiraz and Grenache growing on the gentle sloping grounds, thriving in the red loamy soil.
After carefully choosing the site, Scion was established with the planting of vines in 2002 by Jan Milhinch. Her aims to innovate on tradition by reinventing some classic Rutherglen wine styles served as a calling card forJan's son Rowly. Soon after, he joined the business, leaving a busy life as a graphic designer in Melbourne. Jan and Rowly have a family history in Rutherglen that dates to the late 1800s; they are descendants of the Morris family, whose viticultural and winemaking heritage is rich and extensive.
