Toppers Mountain Wines

Toppers Mountain vineyard is just north of Tingha (near Armidale) on the spine of the Great Dividing Range in northern NSW.

We are on the western edge of the New England Tablelands at an altitude of 900m above sea level. The vines have their roots deeply immersed in the beautiful, deep, red volcanic soils high above the valleys of the MacIntyre & Gwydir Rivers.

We think that the name Toppers Mountain came from brothers E & W Topper who were employees of George Wyndham in the 1850s. At this time George owned New Valley Station which included the present day Toppers Mountain. Toppers Mountain is owned by Mark & Stephanie Kirkby & their daughters & Mark has developed the vineyard from its birth in 1999. The vineyard is a total of 10Ha of which 1.1Ha was planted in spring 2000 & the balance planted in spring 2002.

The Name:
It is thought that the name "Toppers Mountain"came from brothers E & W Topper who were employees of George Wyndham in the 1850s. At this time George owned "New Valley Station"which included the present day "Toppers Mountain".

"Toppers Mountain"is owned by Mark & Stephanie Kirkby & their daughters.

The vineyard - is a total of 10Ha of which 1.1Ha was planted in spring 2000 & the balance planted in spring 2002.

Some History:
The New England area, although recognised as a new wine producing region, is in fact a re-emerging wine region with an interesting history. Grape growing in the region dates back as far as the first settlers. Squatters and settlers planted vineyards and made their own wine due to the difficulty in transporting alcohol from other major centers. The most famous of these was Mr. George Wyndham, founder of award winning Wyndham Estate winery. George established a 100,000 acre property "Bukkulla", near Inverell in the 1850s. By 1870 George had 10ha of vines bearing fruit which contributed to the total 11,000 gallons of Wyndham Estate wines being produced each year.

The New England area is unlike any other grape growing region in Australia. This is due the regions high altitude (with a good number of vineyards above 1,000m), cool climate and soils and topography highly suited to premium winegrape production.

By about 1905 after the arrival of the railway, wine production from the Inverell area of New England was 227,000 litres from seven or eight larger vineyards and a number of smaller vineyards totaling about 45Ha.

Between 1870 & 1920 wines from the area won many awards at wine shows in Sydney, Amsterdam, London, San Francisco, Chicago & France. A prominent English wine judge of the time wrote of the Bukkulla wines, (They) have a character and quality above the average of most wine-producing countries. The lowest quality is better than a large proportion of the ordinary wines of Europe, while the best would not suffer in comparison to the finest known growths.

Visit the website or phone the number below for more information on Toppers Mountains range of wines.