Kingston Estate was established in 1979 by Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis.

Kingston Estate Wines
LocationPeterson Road, Kingston-on-Murray SA 5331, SA, Australia
Coordinates34°13′51″S 140°20′19″E / 34.230903°S 140.338715°E / -34.230903; 140.338715
Founded1985 (1985)
Key peopleBill Moularadellis
Known forPetit Verdot
VarietalsCabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Merlot, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot
DistributionInternational
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

It is a family-owned winery now in the care of Bill Moularadellis. He expanded the business by developing vineyards throughout the Riverland and sourcing grapes from farmers in Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, and Langhorne Creek.

Kingston is now Australia's sixth largest winemaker in terms of tonnes of grape intake,[1] and twelfth largest in terms of total revenue.[2] It's Riverland winery at Kingston-on-Murray produces more than a million cases of wine each year. The winery has a milling capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year,[3] and a storage capacity of 30 million liters. Kingston is located in one of Australia’s main wine-producing regions. About 30% of South Australia's wine is made within a 40-kilometer radius of the Kingston winery.[4]

History edit

1956: Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis emigrate independently from Greece and settle in South Australia's Riverland.

1961: The Moularadellis family purchased a small fruit block in Kingston-on-Murray.

1965: The family purchased a second 40-acre Riverland property planted with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines. Initially, grapes from this property were sold to major wine producers.

1979: Kingston Estate is established.[5]

1985: Eldest son Bill Moularadellis (born 1964) graduated in oenology from Roseworthy Agricultural College and joined the family business.[6]

1986: Bill Moularadellis crushed his first vintage of 60 tonnes, principally red, and produced Kingston Estate's first commercial output of some 4500 cases. Bill began to look into export markets, including the UK and Sweden. enology

1994: Kingston was awarded South Australian Business of the Year as well as the Kingston Estate 1991 Reserve Chardonnay and won double gold at the San Francisco International Wine Show and the Hyatt Advertiser Award for South Australia's best Chardonnay.[7]

1998: Kingston expands its vineyards, planting about 300 acres of vines on the Sturt Highway, opposite the winery Year Kingston-on-Murray. A further 200 acres were planted in 1999. Key components of this expansion were merlot and petit verdot, until then little known in Australia.

1999: Bill Moularadellis offers long-term contracts to grape growers in other South Australian regions. Approximately 30 percent of the winery's grape intake is now from other premium regions throughout South Australia, including the Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, Langhorne Creek , and the Limestone Coast wine zone.

2000: Kingston Estate acquired Swan Hill, based in Ashwood Grove.

2001: Kingston Estate launched its Kingston Estate Echelon Selection range, focusing on non-mainstream grape varieties.

2003: The Kingston 2002 Echelon Selection Petit Verdot wins top gold in its class at the 2003 Royal Melbourne Show[8] and is the only non-mainstream red in the taste-off for the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.

2010: Kingston Estate winemaker Donna Hartwig named The Wine Society Members’ Choice Winemaker of the Year at the 2010 Young Winemaker of the Year awards held in Sydney on 12 November 2010[9]

2011: Kingston Estate owner and winemaker Bill Moularadellis appointed to the board of Wine Australia Corporation[10]

2017: Kingston Estate was awarded Australian Shiraz Winery of the Year at the 2017 Berlin International Wine Competition.[11]

2018: Kingston Estate is ranked number 12 in a list of 'Australia's largest wine companies' in terms of sales revenue.[12]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ The Australian & NZ Wine Industry Directory. Winetitles Pty Ltd. 2017. p. 10.
  2. ^ Australia & NZ Wine Industry Directory 2017. Winetitles Pty Ltd. 2017. p. 11.
  3. ^ The Australian & NZ Wine Industry Directory. Winetitles Pty Ltd. p. 16.
  4. ^ "Hardy Wine Company combine eco-tourism experience with wine and food at Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre". Hardy Wine Company. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  5. ^ James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2012 Edition, Hardie Grant Books, 2011 p.360
  6. ^ "Kingston Estate Winery". Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  7. ^ The Australian Wine Pictorial Atlas 1998/99 Edition, Thomas K. Hardy, Vintage Image Publications 1997
  8. ^ "Royal Melbourne Wine Show". Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  9. ^ Hartwig, Donna. "Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year Awards 2010". Archived from the original on 21 September 2011.
  10. ^ Moularadellis, Bill. "Wine Australia Corporation Board appointed". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.
  11. ^ "2017 Winners".
  12. ^ Top 20, Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, April 2018, Page 14, Winetitles Media, South Australia.

External links edit