Here’s a little bit about how we got here.
Since 2010 the Yeates family has owned and worked hard to rejuvenate one of Mudgee's first-established vineyards, Mountain Blue.
Prior to this, it was owned by Rosemount and then Foster's (now Treasury Wine Estates). During their reign, the vineyard was used to produce one of Rosemount’s flagship wines, Mountain Blue. This wine had a bit of a cult following in its day, having earned a pool room full of medals and an impressive reputation along with it. Despite its success, the wine glut and financial concerns are thought to be the reasons why the vineyard hit the market… and their loss was our gain.
Read on for a little more on the vineyard - the history, our management approach plus a little background on our viticulturist (Sandy Yeates) and winemakers (Jacob Stein & Lisa Bray).
OUR VINEYARD - MOUNTAIN BLUE
Mudgee's name comes from the aboriginal word meaning "nest in the hills" and our 20 hectare vineyard is nestled in the valley at an altitude of 500m, on the outskirts of Mudgee. The warm summer, long autumn and cooler evenings provide excellent grape-growing conditions and the unique & voluptuously fertile soil creates a remarkable terroir for our grapes. Planted without irrigation in 1968, our vines are not only some of the oldest in Mudgee but have sent roots very deep into the rich soil, which provides great consistency in fruit quality. Although best-known for its old-vine Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, we’ve also been growing Riesling and Albariño since 2018. Together these four varietals are grown over an area of 11.5ha, just 5-minutes from Mudgee.
THE VINEYARD’S HISTORY
Arguably one of Mudgee's most famous vineyards, the piece of land on the town's outskirts was originally planted with 9ha of Shiraz grapes by local farmer, John Roth (think Roths' wine bar) in 1968 using the cuttings provided by Jack Roth. Cabernet and more Shiraz plantings were made some time later, bringing the vineyard size to 16ha.
The Vineyard was eventually bought by Rosemount who named the single-vineyard flagship wine "Mountain Blue". For various reasons, namely, the global financial crisis and the looming wine glut, Foster's were prompted to sell many of their vineyards by tender in 2009, including Mountain Blue. At the time vineyards were selling for lower values than cleared land and many vineyards were being pulled out altogether. In a bid to save the vineyard and continue enjoying the fruits of its labour, Sandy & Victoria made a successful offer on the vineyard and with some help from their children, Yeates Wines was born. In 2020 as lockdown restrictions eased, we opened the doors to our accommodation & cellar door, allowing visitors to sample our wines in situ amongst the old vines.
THE YEATES FAMILY
Led by Sandy & Victoria Yeates - in what is best described as a retirement plan gone slightly pear shaped - this is a fully family owned and run operation. Sandy is in charge of the vineyard (see above), while Victoria has made the move from running her own legal practice in Mudgee to managing the cellar door and accommodation side of Yeates Wines.
Their eldest son James and his wife Gemma (nee Skerrett) are our chief quality controllers, based in Sydney. Their son Harry is responsible for the artwork on our cordial label, and his little brother Ollie is pretty handy to have around too.
Sar is the eldest of three daughters and you’ll often find her in the cellar door, or vineyard with her daughter Penny not far behind. Anna is one of the youngest. She played a critical role in the setup of the cellar door, putting her interior styling experience to good use. Today she helps keep the books in order and often helps out at the cellar door and/or vineyard. With a background in communications, Edwina is Anna’s identical twin and now works full time at the cellar door. Her golden retriever ‘Tipsy’ is never too far away either.
ROSEMOUNT’S ‘MOUNTAIN BLUE’
This label was one of the most awarded wines in Mudgee's history. At the time it was Rosemount's most successful export wine - especially in the USA. Mountain Blue was only made between 1994 and 2006 and in that time won 24 trophies and 75 gold medals. James Halliday and Jeremy Oliver gave scores up to 96 points to the wines and they remain highly collectable with many devout fans in the wine world. In 2005 they were taken over by Fosters. who made just one vintage of Mountain Blue wine, in 2006. This was the last time a wine was made under the label. When we first took on the vineyard we temporarily leased some of the old vines to Lowe Wines who made a wine called Mudgee Blue using the fruit produced. Now, the fruit from these vines can only be found in our Yeates Wines Reserve blend.
OUR VIGNERON - SANDY YEATES
You wouldn’t guess it, but our vigneron and head honcho grew up in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. His green thumbs led him to study Agricultural Science at Sydney University and a Masters in Behavioural Science at Macquarie University before marrying law student Victoria and moving to the Hunter Valley. Here he managed a cattle and chicken farm and then lectured at Tocal Agricultural College. A gig with NSW Agriculture prompted the move to Mudgee where he set up a successful Angus cattle stud (Patawalla) just outside of Rylstone, began a consulting business, judged at numerous shows and picked up a few awards i.e NSW Seedstock Producer of the Year.
In 2010 Sandy was ready for a wine change, which coincided with Mountain Blue vineyard hitting the market. These award-winning wines just happened to be some of Sandy’s favourite so he decided to give grape-growing a shot. After a crash course in grape growing, he took over management of the vineyard and got stuck into regenerating the vineyard. Today, it’s back in great shape and producing some beautiful wines. When he’s not in the cellar door you'll find Sandy walking up and down the rows of the vineyard - it’s his happy place.
SUSTAINABLE VINEYARD MANAGEMENT
Since the sale went through in 2010, we’ve also been working hard to restore the vines to full health. We have taken a minimal-intervention, regenerative approach to the vineyard’s management.
A variety of new and environmentally responsible techniques have been introduced to ensure sustainability, and in 2013 we began managing the vineyard organically. Although we opted not to go down the certification path, we use only non-harmful, organic fertilisers and sprays.
More recently, we’ve begun planting a biodiversity corridor to attract beneficial insects and deter detrimental ones to help mitigate disease and encourage optimal vine health. We are also taking steps to better manage the biosecurity of our vines and protect the future of our vines.
OUR WINEMAKERS - JACOB STEIN & LISA BRAY
Jacob Stein is a third-generation Mudgee winemaker, whose family has been making wines in Australia since the 1800s. After graduating from university, Jacob worked 7 vintages both in Australia and abroad (including Italy, Canada, Western Australia & Victoria) before returning home to the family winery in Mudgee in 2009. Since then he’s been named Mudgee Wine Show’s most successful exhibitor more times than we can count, plus Gourmet Traveller’s Young Winemaker of the Year (2012) and a few handfuls of other accolades along the way. Jacob is joined by an incredible crew, including the talented Lisa Bray (of LMB Wines). They are a hardworking, humble, community-minded crew with a passion for good wine and a good sense of humour.