Australia's smaller wineries team up

Part of the first families’ mission is to collectively market the fine wines produced by its 12 members, which are all independently owned and enjoy long histories in their respective regions. Their promotional efforts saw them cross the country last week to present a series of educational tastings for consumers and trade in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

“We want to educate and lift people’s horizons,” explains industry leader Robert Hill Smith, managing director of Yalumba and the fifth generation to work at the Barossa-based winery.

Hill Smith said discussions to unite the family wineries had been going on for more than a decade prior to the formal launch of the organization in 2009. The smaller producers were increasingly discouraged by the direction they saw their industry headed due to the influence of the three large corporations that controlled the bulk of Australia’s wine production.

“With multinational corporations, the whole discussion is based on brand, price and market share,” he says.

Family wineries offer a different approach to making and marketing wine, he continues. Calling themselves the “heart and soul” of the industry, Australia’s First Families of Wines unites a range of producers that meet strict criteria that include being family-owned, multi-generational and a minimum of 20 years in operation.

The 12 founding members come from all corners and include such notable wineries as d’Arenberg, De Bortoli, Henschke, McWilliam’s and Tyrrell’s.

“Wine is about stories if you’ve got them to tell as long as it’s genuine, not constructed by an advertising agency,” Hill Smith says. “Our collective story is about people, individual philosophies and regionality.

“What we’ve got as a group is an amazing diversity of people and regions. Wine is the thread that connects us, but everything else can be very different.”

To showcase the range on offer from Australia’s First Families, here are three enjoyable options released to coincide with their visit.