Garry

Originally from Brisbane, Garry came to Melbourne in his late teens where he embarked upon a colourful career path in the field of horticulture. Beginning with horticultural research he eventually became involved in plant nurseries and over a number of years owned both retail and wholesale nurseries. The combination of two passions; growing plants and drinking wine, led him to viticulture. As an experienced horticulturist he implemented cutting edge viticultural techniques and soon became known for his successful vine growing methods. By the late 1980s Garry was in high demand around Australia as a viticultural consultant. At the same time his own vineyard was gaining recognition and becoming known as one of Victoria’s finest cool climate producers of wine.

Crittenden Estate

A quarter of a century ago the Mornington Peninsula was scarcely associated with wine when Garry planted his first vines at Dromana in 1982. In planting his first five acres of vines he doubled the existing total area of vines planted on the Peninsula at that time. Today there are in excess of 2500 acres under vine. As a key figure in the region’s pioneering wave of vignerons, Garry was instrumental in forging for the Peninsula a reputation as a distinguished producer of cool climate wine. From the outset, he recognized the area’s climatic suitability and set about confirming it through meticulous viticulture and sophisticated winemaking techniques.

Over the years the Peninsula’s profile as one of Australia’s pre-eminent wine regions has continued to grow. With a thirst for exploring new horizons and charting unexplored territory, Garry helped to pioneer the production of Italian varietals in Australia. At a time when awareness of such varieties was barely at an embryonic stage, he helped to bring about an increasingly widespread appreciation of varietals such as Sangiovese, Barbera and Arneis.

Having been involved in both small and large scale wine-making Garry, with son Rollo, is today happy to have found a middle ground. Crittenden Estate produces artisan hand crafted wines, yet is large enough to satisfy the insatiable Crittenden desire to experiment with new wine varieties and complementary produce.

To learn more about Crittenden Estate visit our about us , our team or our winery pages.

To make an online purchase from the Crittenden Estate range of wines click here.