Winery & Vintage Info
Moving his family in 1949 to a mix-use farm in Clare, Peter McNicol Mitchell worked the land with a dairy, orchard and a small underdeveloped patch of vineyard. Days were long and Mitchell family didn’t have the luxury of modern technology or machinery to streamline the farming and viticulture processes.
Peter McNicol Mitchell’s son, Andrew, grew up experiencing the highs and lows of farm life firsthand, the perfect seasons that grew full and healthy vines and the summers with long, hard droughts. With farming and viticulture in his blood, Andrew Mitchell was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. In 1975 he took over the family farm, establishing Mitchell Wines and continuing in his father’s legacy.
Andrew grasped the traditional methods implemented by his father while throwing himself into learning the ins and outs of both traditional and modern winemaking. His studies took him around the world, learning about different techniques, styles and approaches, feeding his insatiable appetite for knowledge. He implemented his newfound learning’s to Mitchell wines and with his wife, Jane, by his side; they became a recognised and highly respected duo in the South Australian wine industry.
The vines for the Mitchell WaterVale Riesling were planted in 1962 by Peter McNicol Mitchell. More than 50 years later Peter’s grandson Angus Mitchell continues to tend the vines within what is now the famed Watervale region, utilising many of the same techniques as his grandfather. These old vines are grown on red loam over limestone soils and have always been dry grown, hand pruned and hand-picked. – Winery Notes
