Clonakilla

John Kirk planted the first vines here in 1971, a CSIRO biochemist who didn't believe Canberra was too cold for viticulture. He was right. The property's reddish parna soil over volcanic dacite produces Shiraz Viognier — Viognier sourced from a Wagga nursery as 100 rootlings in 1986 — that became the region's benchmark. The original winery block, laid by hand, still stands.