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 was built on a slope so that the cellars where the wine matures in bottle are completely underground.
In 2006 the development of a large open cut coal mine across the road from the vineyard was approved. To avoid the adverse effect on the vineyard and cellar door sales the property was sold to the mine and a larger vineyard near Denman purchased in 2007.
Since then the company has built a new Winery, Cellar Door and Restaurant.