Duncan's ancestors first came to Australia on the first fleet, landing in Sydney in 1788.
They were an entrepreneurial lot, with one Francois Girard, owning the Sydney Hotel (1828) and another, Michael Hayes, Australia's first accountant, operating
one of the first illegal distilleries in Australia in 1805.
Duncan Harris grew up in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, and came to Perth in 1993, eventually buying the Swan Valley property at Baskerville in 1998. While working full-time, as an engineer, he spent every spare moment
building the dream of a vineyard and natural wine-making facilities in the Swan Valley.
Why
Duncan had become intrigued with the world of wine, particularly from the growing of the grapes, the winemaking, maturation and finally the drinking the fruits of his labour.
You can enjoy them too.
The winery cellar door opened in 2000 and in 2001 Duncan became the full-time vigneron and winemaker.
Tasting fees were introduced in 2002 with the new purpose built cellar door attached to the 1933 built grape processing shed and winery.
Full organic A grade certification was obtained in 2006. In 2018 and 2019 Duncan became a finalist for the organic farmer of the year award.
In 2018 we celebrated 20 years of ownership.
Duncan believes in sustainablity and organic methods as the only way of saving the planet. He believes that wine is made in the vineyard; to let the vineyard tell the story in the wine,
allow it to produce natural wine flavours that give a sense of place, the soil and the "Swan Valley wine region". Dry land organic viticulture assists that.
For those who would like to "do lunch" with my organic wines, I recommend the Swan Valley Gourmet Farm Cafe or The Principal in Midland..
As mentioned before, organic A grade certification was obtained in 2006, however it was applied for in 2004 and took 18 months for the paperwork and the
inspections to be completed. We just missed out on having the 2006 vintage wines certified as organic. There were two inspections, one as a pre-requiasite and the other as an
incoversion inspection.
Inspector Tom came to see us and was very thorough, giving us good tips and advice as to what was happening in the organic industry in Western Australia at the time.
