A project born on a property located in the north western Clare Valley of South Australia, between Sevenhill and Armagh.  

With a strong family pedigree of 165 years in farming, David Travers envisaged something special about this place back in 1998, when he planted his first vineyard to 4 hectares of Shiraz on a block just 'up and over' the hill from his and Penny’s home.

This north west facing site, overlooks the southern end of the Flinders Range in the distance, and is geologically composed of sandy loam over limestone soils sitting at 465 masl. Not to mention, this is one of the highest altitude vineyards of the region. Farmed organically with meticulous vineyard work to ensure the best quality fruit David can possibly grow.

This block of Shiraz had always made its way to traditional Australian iconic’s, considering that for many years these grapes were sold to powerhouse producers of SA for their flagship wines. However in 2010, Travers gets the itch to make his own wine from this luscious healthy vineyard, continuing with the philosophy to harvest stellar fruit, allowing a minimalist approach in the winery. 

After many years of selling a large portion of these grapes to others, David and Penny have decided to conclude all contracts and are now, solely making Bourke & Travers wines with the vineyards they nurture. 

In 2016, through experience and understanding of wine growing on the property, they pursue a Rhone-esq future with 0.7 of a hectare being planted to Mourvèdre and in 2021, bringing it all together with a single hectare of bush vine Grenache planted on a south east facing slope, which overlooks their home across the damn. This planting is set to be one of the key factors of what lays ahead for the Bourke & Travers wine project.

Even with this gem of a vineyard promising so much with the three red varieties planted, David and Penny do not rest on their laurels. In 2022 they express their interest in expanding the range with the inclusion of a white wine, making way for a ‘Polish Hill’ Riesling no less. Though not located on the Travers property, B&T have already produced outstanding Clare Valley Riesling that delivers regional definition with poise.

Overall, with the 25 years of cultivating grapes, it is the project’s recent history that makes Bourke & Travers a real ‘watch this space’ winery for the iconic region that the Clare Valley is for the Australian wine industry.