Koppamurra - History




	They stared when we came out to plant the vines…

	'Grazing country', said the locals, 'only some loony from the city would plant vines there.'

	In 1975, Coonawarra had grown grapes for a century, but Koppamurra’s was only the second vineyard to establish just to the north of Coonawarra, at a little place called Joanna in the region now known as Wrattonbully – a name chosen not without debate and difficulty, as you’ll hear.

	More than thirty years later, Wrattonbully is recognised as a premier wine-growing area, with almost as many vines as its better known neighbour – certainly an accolade to John Greenshields, who planted Koppamurra’s vineyard there.

	In 1991, new partners came into the business and a new focus on marketing direct to the customers – not so unusual now, but fairly new at the time. The direct marketing concept has served Koppamurra well ever since.

	In 1995, our semi-rural tranquillity was rudely jolted when some very large wine companies decided that ‘Koppamurra’ would be a lovely name for the shiny new wine region just north of Coonawarra – at that time still without a name.

	This triggered off a trademark fight. Our best advice to one and all is to stay out of trademark fights.

	When the dust had settled, Koppamurra had kept its trademark name, but spent a lot of money and really neither won nor lost, although its legal champion did say in a publication later ‘they took on the whole Australian wine industry and won.’

	Koppamurra traded on, but in 2003 the partners decided that running a small vineyard some 400km from where they all lived and worked was becoming, if not unviable, then at least a serious pain in the budget.

	The Joanna vineyard was sold to a high powered partnership of Brian Croser, Jaques Bollinger and Jean-Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages – all high profile names as you’ll note. They bought it for a foundation vineyard for their new Tappanappa brand – quite a piece of international acclaim for the new region and those who established the first vineyards there. Koppamurra has secured its supply of high quality Shiraz and Cabernet grapes from a neighbouring vineyard on the same terra rossa soil.

	Koppamurra bought a very pretty property at Norton Summit in the Adelaide Hills – where it had for some years been making its wine in a large shed, previously used for apple crushing and cider making – and planted some ten acres of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, not without the customary but irritating debate with the council and some of the neighbours.

	However, wine partnerships, like other human relationships, move on. In 2006 the partners decided that their various interests would be best served by splitting the partnership. Two partners took the Norton Summit property and the winemaking facility, two partners took the Koppamurra name, business and stock.

	Koppamurra has now moved to a winemaking model different from the original one. It no longer owns a vineyard, which may seem illogical, but allows the freedom to buy grapes from a chosen vineyard in the best region for a given variety.

	Shiraz and Cabernet of course still come from Wrattonbully, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc from Adelaide Hills, Grenache, Rose, Semillon Chardonnay, together with two exciting new Rhone Valley varieties, Mourvedre and Roussanne from McLaren Vale. Other varieties from other regions may follow in future.

	In 2006, we wrote ‘the times are not easy for small winemakers, but... we are still in business’ – in 2010, the times are still uneasy and... we are still in business.

	Koppamurra will keep on making affordable wine of quality and interest and with a degree of difference as it has done for more than thirty years.

	Koppamurra will keep on providing wine from ‘the grape to your doorstep’ with old fashioned personal service.