History
The Name
The Woodstock vineyard, orchard and farm was named by Arthur Townsend after his home town of Woodstock, near Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Townsend settled amongst the towering gum trees in McLaren Flat, built a home and a brick well and planted vines and fruit trees in the 1850's. The property has been known as Woodstock ever since.
Located in the centre of the town Woodstock, a set of wooden stocks stands as a reminder of an era of public punishment. A most frequent punishment for drunkenness and associated behaviour.
At Woodstock Winery and Coterie stands a replica of those stocks. Interestingly, the original and replica both contain five holes to hold five feet. Today, Woodstock's flagship red wine is named "The Stocks" and two blends are named "Five Feet" (white and red wine).
The Colletts
The Collett family bought the Woodstock McLaren Vale property in 1973 and quickly built a modest winery crushing its first vintage in 1974.
In the year 2000, Doug Collett published an autobiography on his eightieth birthday. Describing five years in the air force and fifty years of winemaking, the book entitled " Astonishing luck in the face of incredible odds" sells at Woodstock Winery and Coterie. Doug Collett was awarded an A.M. for services to the wine industry in 1985.
Doug and Mary Collett's middle son Scott Collett took over at Woodstock in 1982 after gaining a winemaking degree and varied winemaking experience in Australia, Europe and California.
Doug had been selling the big, full-bodied McLaren Vale reds and fortified wine in bulk to other wine companies. Scott started the "Woodstock" brand in 1983 by releasing selected premium wines under the Woodstock label.
Tasting success, Scott increased production and sales and in 1988, Scott and Anne Collett purchased neighbouring vineyards and built the Coterie. Believing in the natural partnership between fine wines and good food, the Woodstock Coterie was built to serve visiting groups of friends (coteries) with fine food and wines.
Joint Ventures
In the 1990s, Woodstock co-invested into new vineyard ventures in the Limestone Coast called Wirrega Vineyards and at Langhorne Creek called Angas Vineyards.
Woodstock also co-invested into a winemaking facility at Tanunda called Barossa Vintners to supplement production and storage.
