Jumping in headfirst back in 2000, my wife, Trish and I (Bernie) purchased an abandoned farm in Waroona WA, and from there, Drakesbrook Wines was born…
It was back in the 80’s while working as a property valuer that I joined a wine club on a bit of a whim, simply wanting to learn more about wine, as I certainly knew I enjoyed consuming it! And since then, my interest and passion only grew further, and a long-running love for wine was firmly cemented.
Over the years, I kept an eye on the property market, with a long-term goal of owning my own little slice of vineyard that I could produce my own wines. As a mainly rural property valuer I enjoyed valuing vineyards, gradually learning more and more from the vignerons I dealt with, and the landscape and vines I was consistently exposed too.
We can pay a special thanks to the 1992 Wine Barons lecture where Dr John Gladstones identified the hills from Chittering down to Ferguson Valley as “well suited to Mediterranean varieties”, which is exactly what we were searching for. The dream was to own a vineyard within 90 minutes of Perth that was elevated, with gravelly loam and plenty of water… and we were lucky enough to stumble across this beautiful land in 2000 that we now call home.
I enrolled in a winemaking degree at the Wagga Wagga Charles Sturt University by correspondence in 2000 and by 2001 we were planting our first vines. Over the years, I’ve loved the day-to-day maintenance of the property and dabbling in marketing and wholesale for the business. Trish is an all-rounder, helping out on the farm as well as teaching high school home economics. Our Eldest daughter has an Agri-tourism, PR and marketing business, and is the mastermind behind ourDrakesbrook labelling and branding. Our second daughter runs our family liquor store in Perth and is always ready to lend a hand when needed. So, it’s safe to say that Drakesbrook Wines has become a collaboration and amalgamation of the Worthington family!
In 2008 we were producing outstanding quality wines for our first ever vintage under the Drakesbrook name, launching Drakesbrook Wines with aShiraz,Chardonnay,Cabernet FrancandCabernet Merlot.
And the, rest as the say, is history…
