Three brothers, Roy, Barry and Tony Date from Swan Hill in North Western Victoria are the backbone of Date Brothers Wines.

Originally third generation dryland cereal growers in their local area, they ventured into the industry of grape growing which has led in recent years to the production of their wines.

With their farming background, the three brothers decided to "have a go" in a new area of agriculture where their well developed farming skills would be of benefit. They yearned to try something completely different and with a rise in the number of wine grapes being grown in Australia, the brothers decided that this type of farming would be their destiny.

In 1997 they purchased 40ha of bare land on the outskirts of the Swan Hill irrigation area from a neighbour. Over a few years they have developed the land and have increased from 40ha to 60ha of planted vines including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvingnon and more recently Durif.

Durif grapes were the most challenging grapes to grow as they are not normally grown in the Swan Hill area, but pleasing to say the grapes from this vineyard have been exceptional.

Plans are in motion to expand and grow Chardonnay grapes, as it has become very aparent that the need for a white wine is very necessary, especially in the region of long, hot, summer days.

A sister, Kerry plays a very significant role in the family business too; she is a constant, very hard worker on the vineyard and helps in all aspects of the vineyard running as smoothly as possible.

Fiona Pye, a family friend, who joined the team in early 2003, is involved with the marketing of the wine. Fiona conducts promotion through wine tastings at venues such as Safeway; through local events including race meetings and the Big Note Festival; and statewide annual events such as the Melbourne Boat Show. The wine is becoming better known and is doing well, especially in the local market.

Fiona recently organised a brochure that has been distributed to advertise the availbility of this well respected wine. Anyone interested in wine tastings can contact Fiona ~ see the contact us page for more details.

The wines will be entered once again into the Australian Inland Wine Show, hosted in Swan Hill in October. In the 2002 show all three wines rated and scored exceptionally well.

You can enjoy the wines in many of the local and regional restaurants and clubs! This is a unique family business that is very proud to be part of Australian Agriculture.

A beautiful Mallee sunset in the vineyard