History

After time spent working in Saudi Arabia, Neil and Lorraine Ashmead, moved to the Barossa in 1979, after Lorraine’s father identified a beautiful home with potential. The homestead, in the heart of the township of Nuriootpa, was surrounded by extremely old Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon vines. At a time where demand for Australian table wine was negligible, the vineyard had become derelict. After years of no interest, the real estate agent eventually offered the Ashmeads the 72 acre vineyard as a bonus, as part of the sale of the homestead. Three years later, after restoring the vineyard, Elderton Wines was born.

• 1894 Vineyard planted on banks of North Para River, Scholz Family
• 1916 Property purchased by Tolley Family
• 1980 Ashmead family purchased property and began vineyard restoration
• 1982 First wine produced under Elderton label with the help of Peter Lehmann
• 1983 Floods occur; James Irvine hired as contract winemaker
• 1984 First vintage of Command Shiraz produced
• 1993 Jimmy Watson Trophy, Royal Melbourne Wine Show
• 1997 Neil Ashmead passed away
• 1998 First vintage of Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon produced
• 2000 World’s Best Shiraz Trophy, International Wine & Spirits Competition
  Allister Ashmead returned to Elderton
  Elderton named in Top 100 Wines in the World, Wine Spectator (plus 2004 & 2008)
• 2002 Elderton purchased Citrus Cellars and built own winemaking facility
• 2003 Cameron Ashmead returned to Elderton
  Richard Langford recruited as Winemaker
• 2005 Elderton named in Top 100 Wineries in the World, Wine & Spirits Magazine
• 2007 Craneford vineyard purchased
• 2008 Elderton named in Wines of the Year, Decanter
• 2010 Greenock vineyard purchased
• 2010 Solar panel installation on winery
• 2011 30 vintages of Elderton Wines
• 2013 Launch of range of wines from Greenock vineyard
• 2017 New Cellar Door opened in the family homestead
• 2019 Julie Ashmead takes on role of Head of Production
  Brock Harrison recruited as Winemaker