The late Stuart Hooper had a deep love for the wines of Burgundy and was able to drink the best. When he established Bannockburn, it was inevitable that pinot noir and chardonnay would form the major part of the plantings, with lesser amounts of riesling, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot. Bannockburn is still owned by members of the Hooper family, who continue to respect Stuart’s strong belief in making wines that reflect the flavours of the vineyard
Although Stuart has since passed, Bannockburn Vineyards remains in the Hooper family, with his daughters as custodians to ensure his philosophy is preserved, providing the cornerstone of all that we do at Bannockburn today.
Matt Holmes commenced making the wines at Bannockburn Vineyards in 2015. He sees his role as a servant to the vineyard, growing season and fruit to produce wines representative of our style and site. Above all, gentle inputs and minimal additions are his goals. In his words, “Well-nourished vines grown in a suitable spot, picked on the right day, transcribed as wine.”
Previously, Matt had been making wine in the Okanagan wine region of British Columbia, Canada. During these 10 years, he also gained a broad range of experience working with additional vintages in the U.S., France, Italy, New Zealand as well as Australia.
