a brief history of the henty wine region

The region was named after the pioneer Henty family who settled at Portland in 1834 arriving on the "Thistle" that sailed from Launceston to Portland Bay. Recorded on the ship's log was one cask of grape vine cuttings. This is the first record of vines into Victoria.

The modern viticultural period began in the 1960’s when Karl Seppelt planted a vineyard at Drumborg which, at the time, was the most southerly vineyard in Victoria. The fruit is processed at Seppelt’s Great Western winery 160 kms to the north. Since then, other vineyards and wineries have been established, the first of these being Crawford River Wines in 1975 followed by Barretts Wines at Gorae West. New plantings continue to this day.

The Region is situated amongst traditional farming land at around 38 degrees Latitude and enjoys a mild climate during the growing season, with some cooling influence from the southern ocean.

Distribution for the wineries include markets around Australian capital cities, the immediate local market, mail order, as well as exports to U.K., U.S.A., Europe and South East Asia.