STANTON &KILLEEN WINES
In 1855 Timothy Stanton abandoned his occupation as a mechanic in West Suffolk, England and brought his family to Australia in search of gold.
In 1864, together with his son John Lewis Stanton,Timothy purchased land at Rutherglen in North East Victoria immediately establishing a farm and vineyard.
By 1875 the Stantons were well established as successful Rutherglen vignerons. Timothy’s grandson John Richard Stanton continued to improve and expand the business and by the 1920’s had established the magnificent “Park View” vineyard and winery.
In 1921 John Richard Stanton’s son, John Charles, decided to start his own winery and with financial assistance from his father purchased a property nearby which was to become known as “Gracerray”. John Charles or “Jack” as he was known worked for his father while he planted his vineyard and established a new winery. Jack made his first vintage in 1925 and a thriving wine business followed, his grit and determination enabled him to survive the great depression of the early thirties which was the ruination of many local wineries, including his father’s “Park View” vineyard.
In 1948 Norman Killeen married Jack’s daughter Joan and in 1953 he joined her and his father-in-law in business resulting in the formation of Stanton and Killeen Wines. During those early years Norman’s involvement was predominantly with the ever expanding farming side of the business but by 1967 he had taken over as winemaker and had launched into a considerable vine replanting program. Norman was able to grow and expand the business during the hectic years of the “70’s” and early “80’s” continuing to lay a firm foundation for the next generation.
Norman’s son Chris was also part of those expanding times and after ten years of training from his father took over as winemaker in 1981, thus becoming the sixth generation of Stanton and Killeen winemakers in the Rutherglen district.
Features – Picnic Tables
NOTE: Best to avoid this on the Queens Birthday long weekend when the Winery Walkabout proper occurs.
This cache series has been placed to highlight a number of the regions wineries and we have endeavoured, where possible, to locate the hides close to the wineries. We have also tried to avoid busy roads but PLEASE park responsibly to ensure eager children (and adults?) don’t need to cross the road. Although you will be travelling on some dirt roads these can be accessed by 2WD in wet weather – we tested out the NinjaGolf to ensure this was possible.
Cache is a 1 litre sistema container so large enough for a variety of swaps.
Please enjoy and remember “Don’t drink and drive!”
