Patritti Wines

After a Saturday morning beach walk I cycled by a winery in my neighbourhood and noticed that the cellar door was open. I popped in and was amazed at the selection. I was invited to someone’s home for dinner that evening so bought a bottle. It was the first one emptied.

Until the late 1950s the area I live in was market gardens and vineyards. The grapes are gone but the winery remains. The only one left in metro Adelaide.

On Saturday a group of us went on a tour given by the owner. He, like many others, is first generation Australian, his parents having emigrated from Italy. The vineyards are in areas surrounding the city, the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, the Fleurieu Peninsula and the Borossa Valley. He regaled us with stories about the mechanization and constantly changing wine making industy, how stainless steel vats replaced oak barrels in the 1960s, and sadly no they don’t stomp the grapes by foot anymore. His mother was the taster, now they have two winemakers.

He told us about selling a small piece of equipment to a guy just getting started 18 years ago. He's now running a half billion dollar business called Yellowtail.

It was a fun afternoon spent with a kind person who was generous with his time and stories and a fun group of people from four different countries.

Patritti exports all over the world so look for this label the next time you’re in the Australian section of your liquor store.