The vineyard was first planted on the banks of the North Para River in Nuriootpa in 1894 by early German settlers, the Scholz family. In 1916, it was purchased by Samuel Elderton Tolley who named the Estate ‘Elderton’. He built himself a sprawling homestead on the Estate and sold the fruit to his family’s winery. It was run successfully for many years, but became derelict in the early years of the vine pull (circa 1975).
“If you buy the house, I will give you the surrounding 72 acres of old vines for nothing”. This was the proposal offered to Lorraine and Neil Ashmead. The rambling old homestead looked ideal for a growing family and the Ashmead’s worked tirelessly to salvage and restore a phenomenal treasure of a vineyard.
In 1982 the first wine was made under the Elderton label.
The second generation, Cameron and Allister, took the reins of the business in 2003 and today work alongside their wives, Jules and Rebecca, to run Elderton Wines, with Lorraine enjoying retirement (you might see her pottering in the Cellar Door garden).
In 2024, a new entity named Ashmead Family Vintners became the overarching business responsible for winemaking and marketing all our family’s vinous and viticultural pursuits.
This ensures that as Elderton inches towards the inclusion of the third generation, it can do so focusing on what Elderton does best – creating estate-grown and made Barossan wines that showcase traditional highlights. Innovation will continue in both our vineyards and winemaking, but through subtle evolution.
Elderton remains committed to working with varieties that have a real footprint in our past as much as our future. Elderton will continue to create world-class wines that couldn’t possibly come from anywhere else except our own home in the Barossa. We adore making some of Australia’s greatest wines from our estate vineyards and the gnarled and beautiful old vines that continue to thrive in the remarkable soils they sit in. None of this will change.
