In 1988 Wolf’s parents bought a property on Stonewell Road in the Barossa, a property close to Torbreck Vintners and a hop, skip and a jump away from Seppeltsfield.
They intended to renovate the 1890’s dilapidated villa that came with the property. The original property was 40 acres on two titles. Wolf’s father Gerald moved the boundary so that the house and 3 ¼ acres of vines would be on a title of 6.5 acres – the balance of the vineyard is now owned by Penfolds.
Those 3 ¼ acres housed dry grown Cabernet Sauvignon of about 30/40 years of age.
In 1992, the first vintage was picked and Charlie Melton made the wine. The first bottled vintage was a 1993’ Cabernet. It still drinks very well.
Wolf was having the wine made, learning along the way how to be a vigneron, so he could have cases of wine to swap with his winemaking clients of the family printing business.
In 1993 Wolf and his wife Jacquie bought the property from his parents. Wolf’s father had a massive collection of traditional printing machinery equipment including metal hand-set type and wood cut large type and many small hand operated presses. Most of this came out of the print business bought by Gerald in the mid 1970’s, with the previous owners having run their business in the Barossa since 1865. The 1880’s type and materials was still there and in use when purchased. All the handset type, along with a Heidelberg press, has its own special room in the Shed and are used to print the Lost Wolf labels (except the Reserve). Like his father, Wolf has a strong appreciation of 18th and 19th century printing, especially hand-coloured etchings.
The Lost Wolf label is to represent and respect the family’s printing history whilst also being fresh and quirky. By use of a small-scale bottling equipment, the family fills, labels and packs all their wines by hand. This labour of love is important to them in terms of the label and the branding as this small ‘craft’ approach captures the essence of Lost Wolf as a wine. The wine is very much a Barossa product, with the grapes being sourced from the Barossa, the wine being produced in the Barossa and the bottling as a family in a small warehouse affectionately referred to as ‘The Shed’.
Again, with the family approach to the wine, the family votes on the best barrel of the vintage which is the Reserve. The Reserve is made for the family with some to share.
