About Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard

The land on which the Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard now sits was first planted in 1863 by George Francis and family under the company name of Isabella Vines. They were thought to have come here from America, but their heritage is somewhat obscure.

The Isabella vine is known to have been popular in Europe and was cultivated in many regions before 1830. Today, however, the Isabella vine is very rare and Douglas Vale is one of just a few vineyards producing wine from this special grape.

The cuttings from these vines, planted in the 1860s, were used in the re-establishment of the Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard, which were originally introduced into Australia in 1973. With Port Macquarie Region being the largest Chambourcin region in Australia it was only natural that
they also planted Chambourcin vines; and, for the white wine lovers, Villard Blanc, too. Their plan is to raise their vines plantings to 800.

In 2007, the first vintage release in ninety years took place from Douglas Vale Vineyard, a Collectors 'Limited Release' Old Douglas Vintage Port - 50 bottles only.  It came from cuttings of the original Isabella vines at Douglas Vale, which date back to the mid 1800s.

George Francis bought twenty acres of land to the west of Port Macquarie in 1859 and later increased it to forty-four acres. He built the homestead in 1862, which was just a four-roomed house made of timber cut by hand. He later added another two rooms, verandahs and a completely separate kitchen between 1875 and 1885.

The modern-day Wine Shed was completed in 2004. It is located on the site of the original 'Wine House'. They have plans to build wine cellars on the original site next to the wine shed. Convict bricks, can still be seen today amongst the remnants of the old building.

Chambourcin, Isabella and Villard Blanc are all available at their Cellar Door.