Our Story : GJKerr.com Canowindra AU Winery

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HANDCRAFTED WINES TO ENJOY WITH FOOD

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Our Story

In 1995 the first vines were planted on our property “Felton”. This was a co-operative effort between Graham and Jan and their life long friends, Graham and Judy Timms from Sydney.

Water was limited and an emergency irrigation system was put in place later, but where possible dry land growing is practiced. An existing machinery shed was utilised for our first experiments in winemaking.Making use of grapes we begged or borrowed from surrounding vineyards and a fifty litre hand basket press we produced a tiny experimental vintage in 1998. By 1999 we were sufficiently confident to plan a somewhat larger vintage.

In 2000 we set up a company named after the local watercourse which flows at our southern and eastern boundaries and Toms Waterhole Wines was born. Along the way we applied for a cellar door license, dramatically expanded the machinery shed to a fully functional winery and acquired the modern equipment necessary to produce high quality wine. Toms Waterhole Wines now crushes over fifty tonnes of grapes, approximately 50/50 red and white.

Much of the wine we make is made under contract to other growers in the district.

Our own labeled wine is made almost entirely from Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Semillon grapes grown on our vineyard. Most of the grapes for out premium wines are handpicked.

Other small parcels of grapes are purchased from carefully selected growers in the Canowindra district. The winery is certified as organic by Australian Certified Organic, processor number 10153P, so that if the appropriate grapes are available we can produce organically certified wine. Wines under the Toms Waterhole label are not organically certified as the vineyard has yet to reach organic standards.

In July 2009 due to the continuing integration of Balloon Joy Flights and Toms Waterhole Wines activities, Graham and Judy Timms decided to step aside to allow for the future growth of the combined business.

Our People

Graham Kerr: Winemaker

Graham resigned from his executive position in the food technology industry twenty five years ago to establish a successful small food business in Canowindra as well as developing Balloon Joy Flights. Graham is a commercially qualified hot air balloon pilot. In expanding his food business he became a licensed baker and produced a range of award winning pies and pastries. In 1996 he sold his food business and transferred his technical skills to winemaking, firstly working as Laboratory Manager and Quality Control Officer for Reynolds Wines at nearby Cudal. During this time he completed five vintages. Graham took over as Managing Director of Toms Waterhole Wines in July 2009.

Jan Kerr: Marketing Director

Jan, originally trained as a registered nurse, has long experience in marketing, firstly as a marketing executive with a Sydney medical technology company, then in promoting and developing their food and ballooning businesses in Canowindra. Following the sale of the food business she was appointed a marketing representative for Blayney Foods, a position which she resigned in April 2003 to concentrate full time on marketing for Toms Waterhole Wines and Balloon Joy Flights. Jan is intimately involved in local and regional tourism.

Our Other Services

Contract Winemaking

We are equiped to ferment small batches of handmade wines from one to five tonnes of either handpicked or machine harvested fruit. Many larger grapegrowers from the Cowra Wine Region have called upon our services to produce wines for bottling under their own label. Some of these have been exported in the past to Japan and Germany.

Grape Processing

Winemakers from outside the region, who purchase Cowra Region grapes, have used our crushing and juice stabilising facility. We are interested in talking to you about your requirements.

Organics

Toms Waterhole winery is Organically Certified as processor by The Biological Farmers Association of Australia. Our certification number is 10153P. We have produced Organically Certified wines for the last five years. We continue in our persuit of raising the quality image of organic wines in Australia. In addition we have developed the know how to produce both white and red “No added Preservative” (NAP) organic wines. We are interested in discussing you organic and NAP winemaking requirements with you.

Private Bin labelling

We can organise to label any of our wines for special occasions. Weddings, birthdays, reunions, product launches, corporate giveaways are among the many we have done. Have you ever wanted to put your own picture on a wine bottle? If we can help you make your occasion more special and memorable click on the contact us button below.