Barossa family wine business has two reasons to celebrate

As Barossa winery Elderton celebrates 40 vintages, it also has another milestone worth marking. 

Family owned and operated Elderton is now a certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. 

"We now measure all of the aspects of land and soil, water, biodiversity, energy and waste and measure it against our peers with the aim of further improving our sustainable practices," says co-owner Cameron Ashmead. 

"It is very exciting what is happening here at Elderton, especially in relation to our partnership with Carbon Neutral and our work offsetting all of our emissions.

"My brother, Allister, and I together run our second generation family owned winery in Australia's famous Barossa Valley and we strive for excellence from distinguished vineyard sites in the region." 

Elderton was founded by the late Neil Ashmead and his wife Lorraine, who had been working in Saudi Arabia but wanted to raise their family in Australia.

The family homestead, in the heart of the township of Nuriootpa, was surrounded by extremely old shiraz and cabernet sauvignon vines. 

At a time where demand for Australian table wine was negligible, the vineyard had become derelict. 

After years of no interest, in 1980 the real estate agent eventually offered the Ashmeads the 72-acre vineyard as a bonus, as part of the sale of the homestead. 

In 1982, after restoration works in the vineyard, Elderton Wines was born.

The second generation, Cameron and Allister and their families, took the reins of the business in 2003. 

For more info see https://eldertonwines.com.au/