Delatite vineyard and winery was established by Robert and Vivienne Ritchie in the Victorian High Country near Mansfield, at the foot of Mt Buller. Pioneers in cool climate grapegrowing and winemaking; their daughter Rosalind made the wines from 1982 until 2005, Jane Donat from 2006 to 2008, and Andy Browning from 2009 onwards. Moving to biodynamic grapegrowing in 2006 and utilising only wild yeasts from 2009 Delatite is now firmly established as one of Australia's leading family owned small wineries (James Halliday Five red star producer since 2009).
The family have been farming on Delatite Station since the 1890's and planted the first vines (from cuttings supplied by Jim Irvine from McClaren Vale) in 1968. From 1974 to 1981 they sold their grapes to Browns at Milawa and then put up a winery during the 1982 vintage. The rest is history! Now Delatite Winery boasts 28 hectares of biodynamically grown vines of which one third are on phylloxera resistant rootstocks.
Delatite Cellar Door
The Delatite architecturally designed cellar door is located about ten minutes from Mansfield in the upper Goulburn region, overlooking Mt Buller. Sit and enjoy the 180 degree views of this picturesque part of Victoria while enjoying a variety of tasting experiences. The cellar door has been rated a five star winery by James Halliday since 2009.
Did you know...
A portion of all of Delatite's white wines ferment and then spend time on lees in large old oak puncheons. This varies from 10-15% for Riesling and Gewurztraminer, 25-50% for Pinot Gris, and up to 100% for Chardonnay.
- Andy Browning, Chief Winemaker