Wine
Château Tanunda Leading a Sustainable Future
Château Tanunda MD Michelle Geber is dedicated to ensuring her family's wine estate continues to shine on the world wine stage.
Across history, the wine industry has always had inspirational women leading the way. A classic example is Madame Clicquot, the Grande Dame of Champagne who developed Veuve Clicquot in the late 1700s to become one of the greatest Champagne houses in the world.
In the modern age, there’s Corinne Mentzelopoulos, who owns and manages Bordeaux’s Château Margaux. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild does the same at Château Mouton Rothschild and another inspiration is Danièle Ricard, head of Pernod Ricard.
A Local Leader
In Australia, we have many incredible female leaders building a sustainable and positive future for the wine industry. Once such newcomer is Michelle Geber, MD of one of Australia’s greatest historical wine assets, Château Tanunda, considered our ‘1st Growth’ Château.
Michelle has wine stitched into her DNA, and since childhood has been surrounded by the business of making and selling wine.
“One of my earliest memories was about making wine decisions with my family,” she explains. “As young children, we would often have the labels laid out on the dinner table and Dad would be talking about developing brands and how they could be successful.” Now as MD it’s Michelle’s turn and as part of the business’s 130th birthday, it is shaping and evolving one of the Château’s great brands, Grand Barossa.
Future Focussed
Beyond the wines, Michelle’s focus is growing the Château’s future by adding a sustainable, family orientated foundation. “I get inspired by so many great women in wine,” explains Michelle. “When you listen to their stories, it’s hard not to be. But ultimately, I see us as a family business and I love taking that inspiration, adding it to the Château’s success story, sharing it with the team, the family, and moving forward together.”
Sharing the Château
As custodian of Château Tanunda’s vast legacy, Michelle has a clear roadmap for taking the business forward. “Our future is about building wines of significance, and representing the best wines the Barossa can make. We’re going to do that by nurturing our 100+-year-old vines, crafting wines like our Everest Grenache, telling our story and showing that as Australia’s 1st Growth Château, we can make luxurious wines that stand amongst the best in the world.”
Another way Michelle is bringing the Château forward is by creating experiences that truly connect the visitor to the history, process and inner workings of Château Tanunda. “Having had the luxury of working in France and America my goal is to bring the most incredible wine experiences in the world and bring them to life here,” Michelle explains. “As a team it’s so rewarding to be able to share our home with our visitors and connect them to this magical place.”