How it all started
OUR HISTORY
In 1906, Henry Albert and Alice Jane Reschke came to Coonawarra to build a life for their family. They ran a cattle stud.
‘Koonara’ is the name of the Reschke family property in Coonawarra.
Today over 115 years on, the family still live in Coonawarra.
Cattle are still on our land, but vineyards and wine have been our passions since 1988. The land chosen for the vineyards was carefully selected out of the 3,000 acres available on the property in Coonawarra. In 1991, 30 Cases of Koonara Wine were made for family and friends.
In 1999, the first Koonara wines were made available for the public, with a very limited number of cases, held back to give the wines a chance to mature in the bottle.
The vineyards are naturally kept at an average of 2 tonnes or less an acre. We believe quality is paramount in creating a wine that is not only good but consistent and age-worthy each year.
We are very proud of our wines and hope you enjoy them.
MY DAD TREVOR
My Dad was an avid clay target shooter. He was selected for the Australian team for the American Nationals in the ’80s and once missed out on the Tokyo Olympics for pistol shooting by one point (he went back later that day to get a score to easily get in, but it was too late). He has agricultural colleges coming to the property each year to look at his unique cattle breeding program.
“Wine Hobbyist” is probably how he would describe himself. Dad planted the vines on the home Block in 1988, for no real reason than he “would like to play around with my own wine one day.” In 1992 he started playing around, getting 30 cases made at a friend’s winery each year until 1997, when Stan Gawel – our good friend and first distributor in Melbourne – decided to make some wine from the grapes.
They were put into half bottles, shipped to England, and promptly snapped up by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The rest is history…
COONAWARRA
Coonawarra is a small wine region in South Australia, famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon and its cool-climate spicy Shiraz.
“Most wine authorities acknowledge that Coonawarra is Australia’s greatest red wine district and one of the producers of great reds of the world.”
Len Evans – “The Complete Book of Australian Wine” – Revised Edition – Weldon Publishing
FACT: With very similar temperatures as Bordeaux in France, Coonawarra receives less rainfall, but with a supply of high quality underground water, grape growers have an even greater control over the flavours and intensity of the grapes used in their wine.
Over the years.
1906
Henry Albert & Alice Reschke arrive in Coonawarra
1988
Trevor Reschke begins “playing around” with winemaking
1992
Koonara Wines produces its first case of wine
1997
2 tonnes were made into wine by our Melbourne distributor and sold entirely into the UK market, of which Andrew Lloyd Webber brought 90% of it
1998
Koonara produces 500 dozen wines per year
2001
Started national distribution of Koonara Wines
2005
Opened the Cellar door at 44 Church Street Penola
2007
Opened a Cellar Door in Apollo Bay Victoria
2010
Koonara increases the range to 10 wines
2011
Opened a Cellar Door in Robe, SA. Loaves and Fishes is a similar store to our Cellar Door in Penola.
2017
Koonara becomes the only certified organic winery in Coonawarra
2020
Experienced great support from our loyal followers in the global pandemic where hospitality shut down
2020
Created our first blend, Angels Wings Cab Shiraz
2022
Celebrated 30 years of making wine