The Woodstock Story

The original Woodstock property was named by English settlers, after their hometown of Woodstock, near Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. The Townsend Family, headed by William Louis Townsend, received a Crown Lease for the property in 1905, built a home with a brick well and established the estate as a vineyard and orchard. It has been known as Woodstock ever since.

Once Upon A Time

The Stocks

In the centre of the town of Woodstock in England stands a set of medieval wooden leg stocks, which were historically used for the public punishment of townsfolk who had over-imbibed.

A replica of these stocks welcomes you at the entrance of Woodstock Estate in McLaren Vale.

Incidentally, our much-revered single vineyard Woodstock ‘The Stocks’ Shiraz, sourced exclusively from 31 rows of old Shiraz vines (planted circa 1900), has been cheekily named after this set of stocks!

The Collett Family

Doug Collett

The late Doug Collett A.M. served as a fighter pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Air Force during World War II. While flying Spitfires and Hurricanes over much of Europe, he observed the vast vineyards, tasted the many wines of Europe and became captivated by the wine industry.
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Scott Collett

Doug and Mary’s middle son, Scott, took over the running of Woodstock in 1982 and released a range of wines under the Woodstock name in 1983. Following in his father’s footsteps, Scott completed a Bachelor of Oenology at Roseworthy College and gained winemaking experience in other regions in Australia, Europe and the USA before returning to the family business. In 1986, he was crowned ‘The Bushing King’ of McLaren Vale for producing the best wine in the region that year. Tasting success, he bought some neighbouring vineyards in 1988, which included a single vineyard of 110 year old Shiraz vines.
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Our Philosophy

To capture the essence of McLaren Vale, we strive for absolute quality, beginning in our old vineyards, through every phase of winemaking, to the wines before you, wherever that may be. The WOODSTOCK wine portfolio includes a range of fresh aromatic whites, opulent yet finely structured reds and finally, an eclectic selection of after-dinner wines.

We believe in capturing natural acidity and fresh grape characters in our whites and rosé.

WOODSTOCK reds are all about smooth tannins and purity of fruit. As grape tannins age on the vines, they become less bitter making their wines softer. WOODSTOCK reds are soft and approachable when young, yet with structure to age with cellaring.

Our aim is to put together balanced table wines with all the building blocks necessary for them to grow in flavour profile and intensity with careful cellaring.

WOODSTOCK founder Doug Collett had the foresight to make fortifieds to benefit future generations of wine lovers. His son Scott, continues those footsteps and releases consistent, evolving quality classics.

Behind the Wine

The Vineyards

The majority of our wines are sourced from WOODSTOCK Estate, which lies between McLaren Flat and Blewitt Springs, east of the town of McLaren Vale. Winemaker Scott Collett’s close proximity and deep understanding of these vineyards over many years maintains strict quality benchmarks of maximum flavour and intensity for which the WOODSTOCK Estate is known.

The varieties planted are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon and Montepulciano.

WOODSTOCK Estate owns some of the oldest vineyards in McLaren Vale, with our flagship ‘The Stocks’ Vineyard planted circa 1900, a bush vine Grenache vineyard which was planted in 1930, and even our ‘young’ vineyards being planted in the early 1970-80s.

Although not yet certified organic, our vines are treated with minimal impact sprays and no pesticides. We tend our vine canopies by hand, and if required the vines are leaf plucked or crop thinned to ensure even ripening and good concentration of berry flavours.

Winemaking

To produce wines of intensity and balance, the choice of harvest time is crucial. The optimum harvesting window of opportunity to ensure the berries are picked at their best is often only a day or two for early ripening whites and less than a week for the reds.

Vintage usually commences in late February with the whites the March for Shiraz, then Cabernet Sauvignon and lastly Grenache. Mechanical harvesting during the night is preferred so the grapes can be picked promptly at their optimum ripeness in the cool of the night to preserve natural flavours.

Our vineyard and winery managers work closely during harvest to ensure the grapes are crushed immediately when delivered.

On arrival at the winery, grapes are immediately weighed, sampled, tasted and tested. The best Italian crushers have been specifically chosen for their gentleness and ability to vary in process depending on fruit harvest method and the wine style desired. White juice is drained and cold settled to remove solids, flesh and pulp before decanting or “racking” to fermentation vessels.

Reds are cold soaked for 24 hours before fermentation with their grape-skins for at least five days, mixed twice daily. The juice is mixed with skins which float on top. This helps cool the fermenting skins and to extract their colour and flavour. The yeasts used are started from freeze dried cultures from various sources, not genetically modified to our knowledge. Read more…

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