Brought out from Germany by the Macarthur family (of sheep-breeding fame) in 1838, Johann Stein carried with him the first cuttings of Rhine Riesling to survive in Australia. Under his supervision the Macarthur’s Camden Park vineyard flourished as one of the earliest wineries in Australia. Johann’s brother, Jacob, then went on to establish his own vineyard called “Sandal Farm” on Prospect Creek near Carramar, in Sydney’s South-West.
In 1976 the family tradition of grape growing and wine making was revived by Robert and Lorna Stein with the establishment of a vineyard in Mudgee, NSW. Starting with just 2 hectares of Shiraz the vineyard was further expanded through the help of friends and family to its current size. Robert and Lorna’s son Andrew Stein, who helped with establishing the vineyard, then made Mudgee his home in 2005. The vineyard and winery have grown to become a successful enterprise, earning a reputation as one of Mudgee, and NSW, premier quality wine producers.
This family tradition of winemaking has since been continued by Robert and Lorna’s grandson, Jacob Stein, returning to the family business in 2009 as chief winemaker. Jacob returned to Mudgee, after having worked 7 vintages both abroad and nationally, to add a new dimension to the family winemaking business.
The family vineyard which is now over 40 years old, is seeing its “old vines” produce exceptional quality fruit for wine. Jacob attributes much of his wine making success to the excellent vineyard site selected by his grandfather and growing conditions of the Mudgee region. Jacob explains, “Mudgee has excellent attributes for growing grapes. The region has a continental climate with warm days and cool nights, combined with excellent soil profiles are some of the attributes that help Mudgee produce great wines with a distinct regional character”
These attributes are reflected in the wines that are now produced at the winery, many of which are award winning and/or highly rated by the wine industry professionals, and has resulted in being rated Red 5 Stars by James Halliday.
