Koonara Wines stands at the crossroads where history and contemporary practices harmoniously combine. The Reschke family have owned the Koonara property since 1906 and it was only in 1988 that Trevor Reschke planted the first vineyard – the start of something special. After four years of lovingly tending to the vineyard, the fruits of the Reschke family’s dedication and labour were first captured in a bottle in 1992.

Since the vineyard’s humble beginnings, the company has grown under the care of the Reschke family, with the first commercial vintage of wines released in 1999. Seeking to maintain the positive momentum, the winery continues to promote innovative practices that will further the quality of wines produced under Koonara Wines’ pristine reputation.

Trevor Reschke observed that the chemicals utilised throughout the winery may be damaging both the vines’ integrity and the fruit’s quality after suffering many losses following a series of particularly harsh frosts. Since then, the company has embarked on a journey of organic viticulture, which attributes to not only Koonara Wines’ industry success, but the integrity care for the environment in which the brand operates.

Koonara Wines is now certified to Australian Organic Standards in its Coonawarra vineyards. The winery has a deep-rooted belief that organic and regenerative practices are the future of wine production, not just in Australia but also globally. The company looks to the practices implemented before artificial chemicals were featured heavily in the viticulture industry.

This was just a starting point for the vineyard, with the winery seeking new and innovative ways to improve its sustainability and natural practices. Koonara Wines has created a unique form of high-nutrition organics known as ‘Ecosystem Organics’ that the team use to nourish the vines, while reducing the presence of diseases and pests to being almost non-existent.

The winery consistently strives to push the frontier of innovation and is proudly the first winery in Australia to trial Bacilus subtilis as a probiotic to control snail and millipede numbers in its vineyards. Given the winery’s impressive resources and major success, Koonara offers its paperwork for all interested parties to utilise, while also working in collaboration with supermarkets to increase the nutrient density in the produce grown in Australia.