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BROKENWOOD
Brokenwood was founded in 1970 by James Halliday, John Beeston and Tony Albert who were self professed hobby winemakers. It is privately owned by 27 partners (friends). When the partners purchased the land, there were many piles of broken wood to clear for the planting of vines, and that's how they got their name.
The first vintage was picked in 1973 and while none of the original partners claimed to know anything about viticulture or winemaking, the wine received praise, and attracted a loyal following from its first vintage.
Over the years the winery housed, in dorm-style accommodation, the exhausted bodies of the many friends & family who came to stay at Brokenwood, seduced by the promise of clean country air, fine food, wine and company in exchange for help in the vineyard. Many of Australia's most prominent wine identities did their time at Brokenwood over the past 40 years.
At nearly 40 years young, Brokenwood Wines, in the heart of the Hunter Valley, can lay claim to not only an iconic vineyard with the Graveyard Vineyard but to the preservation of a wine fraternity that proudly has as its mission statement, "to make great wine and have fun".
The original land that was to become the Cricket Pitch Vineyard was purchased in 1970 and planted immediately to Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Graveyard Vineyard, planted to Shiraz in 1968, was bought in 1978 and by the mid 1980s was producing a premium Single Vineyard wine. The first Langton's Classification of Premium Australian Wine was launched in 1993 and the Graveyard Shiraz was then, and remains, the highest-placed Hunter Valley Shiraz.
The Hunter Valley is renowned for its dry table wines of Semillon and Shiraz. Brokenwood's production of these is further supported by premium grapes from as far afield as Orange, Beechworth and McLaren Vale.
Today, Brokenwood boasts an impressive array of premium quality wines, sourced from 'all the right regions, for all the right reasons', from the Graveyard Shiraz to the Cricket Pitch Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and Cricket Pitch Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.
 Appointed winemaker at Brokenwood in October of 2011, Simon James Steele grew up in Adelaide, South Australia surrounded by vineyards and winemakers. At a young age, Simon developed an appreciation for fine wine and vineyards. After traveling to the USA and France, Simon has continued his love affair with all things grape and wine! | 
