GARNERS

While Leon comes from Melbourne and Rosie was born in Horsham, much of our life has been spent overseas due to Leon’s position as Professor of Optometry, and included time in Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand. We returned to Australia in 2005 after living in New Zealand since 1979. We always intended to retire back to Australia but we thought we would like to go back to Queensland, where we had spent 3 wonderful years in the mid 70s. Then fate had us driving along the Longwood-Mansfield Road in November 2004 and we passed a home for sale that was part of Vinery, a thoroughbred stud property.

 

The house was called Roseleigh and it was a mixture of our names, which added to the intrigue. Rosie immediately fell in love with the house and the outlook and so we bought the beautiful granite house at Longwood East. We have a strong connection with this area through our forebears as they worked the goldfields in Whroo, Rushworth, Beechworth, Alexandra and Walhalla. Rosie’s great-great Grandfather started the first store in Horsham in 1849 and Leon’s ancestors were early pioneers in Gippsland, so the connections with Victoria are strong. In our first year here we set about turning the front horse paddock into 1.8 hectares of shiraz.

 

James Halliday gave us a copy of his “Wine Atlas of Australia” when he was a house guest in 2006 and 2007 and wrote in the front cover the words “Good luck with the granite house. Since you are jumping into an ultimate black hole in space, it is probably better you learn about it sooner rather than later.”

 

We are getting a bit old to be jumping into black holes but so far we have enjoyed the experience and hope to continue to produce top grapes for premium wine. More importantly we hope that you enjoy it with us as well. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information about our award winning wines and extra virgin olive oil. Email or telephone us, and, if you would like to make a purchase click on the link above to place your order.