The Callatoota Story

The Cruickshank family interest in wine goes back to 1950 when John, as President of the Students Union at the University of Tasmania, helped entertain a famous Spaniard, Don Salvador de Madariaga, Professor of Spanish History at Oxford, who was on a lecture tour of Australia. Among other things, he advocated that Australians should drink wine instead of beer for the good of their health.

John was taken by this, for those days, radical proposal. His interest was further encouraged when a few months later he made a business trip to Europe during which he became accustomed to drinking wine with his meals. John's interest in wine grew quickly and he soon became one of the pioneers of the movement to include wine in one's daily life.

When he moved to Canberra in 1952, he met several like minded people with whom he founded the Canberra Wine and Food Club in 1953. The Club grew quickly, and by 1957 had its own licensed club house, probably the only wine and food club in the world with such a facility.

In 1973, John purchased the homestead block of an old property called Callatoota at Wybong in the Upper Hunter Valley in order to realise his dream of developing his own vineyard from scratch. The following year he planted the first 4-hectare vineyard with the best available clone of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Until 1981, the wine was made at a nearby winery. After visiting many small wineries in Australia and Europe, John designed his own winery which he built in time for the 1982 vintage. The winery is built on a slope so that the cellars where the wine matures in bottle are completely underground.

In 1986 and 1987 a further 3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 hectare of Cabernet Franc were planted. In 1996 the vineyard was completed by the addition of 2 hectares of Shiraz.

Although Callatoota Estate is one of the smallest vineyards in the Upper Hunter, the wines, made solely from grapes grown in this vineyard, can hold their own with the very best. In recent years it has won a respectable tally of medals at the Hunter Valley Wine Show.