In the late 1970's, Ann, the daughter of one of the most prominent figures in the Australian wine industry- Murray Tyrrell, met one of most talked about young winemakers of the time- John Ellis OAM, and the rest they say is history. At that time Ann worked in her family’s business- Tyrrell’s and John was the first winemaker of a big new winery in town- Rosemount Estate. Despite some local fame and notoriety they decided to pick up and move to Victoria.

Their first move was to Echuca, an unlikely spot to start a winery. John had been asked to start up a new winery called Tisdall's. It was owned by Peter Tisdall, a local doctor. Together they pioneered a lot of wine styles that are staples today, including: Australia’s first cool climate Chardonnay, first commercially made Merlot and the first Cabernet Merlot blend. After a few years John & Ann decided it was time to start their own venture- The Hanging Rock Winery.

While driving from Echuca to Newham in the early days John Ellis OAM, noticed that the soil that was being ploughed for wheat was a beautiful rich red colour. He wondered how good this soil would be for growing grapes. John was asked to make the wine from the Mt Ida Vineyard for Leonard French and his love affair for Heathcote wine began. He decided to lease a vineyard on the Mt Camel range. Unfortunately after a small number of years the vineyard all but died from salt leaching through the soil. In 1994 Athol Guy from The Seekers fame decided that he needed a vineyard. He and John agreed to form a partnership. Although we bought the vineyard from Athol a number of years ago it will always be known as Athol's vineyard, for without him it wouldn't exist. Today this 20 acre amazing vineyard is entirely planted with Shiraz. It is dry grown and in a good year produces 1 tonne to the acre of fruit. These grapes go to make our Heathcote Shiraz and Reserve Heathcote Shiraz.