Kingston Estate
Encyclopedia
Kingston Estate was established in 1979 by Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis when they planted 40 acres of vines in South Australia’s Riverland.
This family owned winery is now in the care of son Bill Moularadellis
who further developed the business with expansion of vineyards throughout the Riverland, as well as building long term relationships with premium growers in Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra
, Clare Valley
and Langhorne Creek.
While maintaining a family, hands-on culture, Kingston is now Australia’s sixth largest winemaker in terms of tonnes of grape intake, and fourteenth largest in terms of sales of branded wine.
Its Riverland winery, at Kingston-on-Murray, approximately 220 kilometres from Adelaide
in South Australia
, produces more than a million cases of premium-quality varietal table wines each vintage. Of this branded wine, 60 per cent is exported to markets such the UK, New Zealand
, Canada
, Germany
and Sweden
as well as to emerging markets such as China
and Singapore
.
Kingston employs more than 70 full-time staff, with total employment swelling to more than 100 during vintage. The winery is a very modern facility with crushing capacity of 80,000 tonnes per annum, stainless steel storage capacity of 30 million litres and an extensive oak-maturation cellar. The Kingston Estate winery is the sixth largest winery in Australia.
Kingston is a keystone of Riverland’s foundation as one of Australia’s major wine grape growing areas, with about 30% of South Australia’s wine being made within a 40-kilometre radius of the Kingston winery.
1961: The Moularadellis family purchased a small fruit block in Kingston-on-Murray.
1965: The family purchased a second 40-acre Riverland property planted with shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot vines. Initially, grapes from this property were sold to major wine producers.
1979: Kingston Estate is established. Until the mid-1980s the business remained a small family affair with the wine-production facility only processing fruit from the family vineyards and selling bulk wines to major producers.
1985: Eldest son Bill Moularadellis
(born 1964) graduated in oenology from Roseworthy Agricultural College and joined the family business.
1986: Bill Moularadellis crushed his first vintage of 60 tonnes, principally red, and produced Kingston Estate’s first commercial output of some 4500 cases. Bill saw the opportunity for Australian wines in the international market, including the UK and Sweden.
1994: Awarded South Australian business of the year as well as the Kingston Estate 1991 Reserve Chardonnay won double gold at the San Francisco International Wine Show and the Hyatt Advertiser Award for South Australia's best Chardonnay.
1995: The value of Kingston’s exports tops the $10m mark.
1998: Kingston expands its vineyards, planting about 300 acres of vines on the Sturt Highway, opposite the winery at Kingston-on-Murray. A further 200 acres were planted in 1999. Key components of this expansion were merlot
and petit verdot
, until then little known in Australia but selected by Bill Moularadellis as being especially suited to the Riverland.
1999: Bill Moularadellis offers long-term contracts to grapegrowers in other South Australian regions. This provided the opportunity to further increase wine quality, blending options and style development. Today, approximately 30 per cent of the winery’s grape intake is from other premium regions throughout South Australia, including the Clare Valley
, Adelaide Hills
, Langhorne Creek and the Limestone Coast
. This growth in diversity of fruit supply has contributed significantly improved wine quality, especially in the Kingston Estate range.
2000: Kingston acquired Swan Hill based Ashwood Grove.
2001: Kingston launched its Echelon Selection range, highlighting the qualities of non-mainstream premium grape varieties.
2003: Bill Moularadellis’ vision for petit verdot
was further vindicated when the Kingston 2002 Echelon Selection Petit Verdot wins top gold in its class at the 2003 Royal Melbourne Show and is the only non-mainstream red in the taste-off for the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.
2010: Kingston Estate winemaker Donna Hartwig named The Wine Society Members’ Choice Winemaker of the Year at the 2010 Young Winemaker of the Year awards held in Sydney
on 12 November 2010
2011: Kingston Estate owner and winemaker Bill Moularadellis appointed to the board of Wine Australia Corporation
This family owned winery is now in the care of son Bill Moularadellis
Bill Moularadellis
Bill Moularadellis is an Australian winemaker and is the son of Greek emigrates Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis.Bill Moularadellis is the founder and Managing Director of Kingston Estate, which is a South Australian Riverland based winery and in 2011 was elected on to the board of Wine...
who further developed the business with expansion of vineyards throughout the Riverland, as well as building long term relationships with premium growers in Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra
Coonawarra
Coonawarra is a wine region, on the Limestone Coast of South Australia, that is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced on its "terra rossa" soil. Coonawarra is an Aboriginal word meaning "Honeysuckle". It is about 380 km southeast of Adelaide, close to the border with...
, Clare Valley
Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is one of Australia's oldest wine regions, best known for Riesling wines. It lies in the Mid North of South Australia, approximately 120 km north of Adelaide. The valley runs north-south, with Main North Road as the main thoroughfare....
and Langhorne Creek.
While maintaining a family, hands-on culture, Kingston is now Australia’s sixth largest winemaker in terms of tonnes of grape intake, and fourteenth largest in terms of sales of branded wine.
Its Riverland winery, at Kingston-on-Murray, approximately 220 kilometres from Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, produces more than a million cases of premium-quality varietal table wines each vintage. Of this branded wine, 60 per cent is exported to markets such the UK, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as well as to emerging markets such as China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Kingston employs more than 70 full-time staff, with total employment swelling to more than 100 during vintage. The winery is a very modern facility with crushing capacity of 80,000 tonnes per annum, stainless steel storage capacity of 30 million litres and an extensive oak-maturation cellar. The Kingston Estate winery is the sixth largest winery in Australia.
Kingston is a keystone of Riverland’s foundation as one of Australia’s major wine grape growing areas, with about 30% of South Australia’s wine being made within a 40-kilometre radius of the Kingston winery.
History
1956: Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis emigrate independently from Greece and settle in South Australia’s Riverland.1961: The Moularadellis family purchased a small fruit block in Kingston-on-Murray.
1965: The family purchased a second 40-acre Riverland property planted with shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot vines. Initially, grapes from this property were sold to major wine producers.
1979: Kingston Estate is established. Until the mid-1980s the business remained a small family affair with the wine-production facility only processing fruit from the family vineyards and selling bulk wines to major producers.
1985: Eldest son Bill Moularadellis
Bill Moularadellis
Bill Moularadellis is an Australian winemaker and is the son of Greek emigrates Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis.Bill Moularadellis is the founder and Managing Director of Kingston Estate, which is a South Australian Riverland based winery and in 2011 was elected on to the board of Wine...
(born 1964) graduated in oenology from Roseworthy Agricultural College and joined the family business.
1986: Bill Moularadellis crushed his first vintage of 60 tonnes, principally red, and produced Kingston Estate’s first commercial output of some 4500 cases. Bill saw the opportunity for Australian wines in the international market, including the UK and Sweden.
1994: Awarded South Australian business of the year as well as the Kingston Estate 1991 Reserve Chardonnay won double gold at the San Francisco International Wine Show and the Hyatt Advertiser Award for South Australia's best Chardonnay.
1995: The value of Kingston’s exports tops the $10m mark.
1998: Kingston expands its vineyards, planting about 300 acres of vines on the Sturt Highway, opposite the winery at Kingston-on-Murray. A further 200 acres were planted in 1999. Key components of this expansion were merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
and petit verdot
Petit verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...
, until then little known in Australia but selected by Bill Moularadellis as being especially suited to the Riverland.
1999: Bill Moularadellis offers long-term contracts to grapegrowers in other South Australian regions. This provided the opportunity to further increase wine quality, blending options and style development. Today, approximately 30 per cent of the winery’s grape intake is from other premium regions throughout South Australia, including the Clare Valley
Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is one of Australia's oldest wine regions, best known for Riesling wines. It lies in the Mid North of South Australia, approximately 120 km north of Adelaide. The valley runs north-south, with Main North Road as the main thoroughfare....
, Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
, Langhorne Creek and the Limestone Coast
Limestone Coast
The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twentyfirst century for the geographical region and tourist region of the southeast coast of South Australia from the Victoria border to the towards the city of Adelaide.-Location and description:...
. This growth in diversity of fruit supply has contributed significantly improved wine quality, especially in the Kingston Estate range.
2000: Kingston acquired Swan Hill based Ashwood Grove.
2001: Kingston launched its Echelon Selection range, highlighting the qualities of non-mainstream premium grape varieties.
2003: Bill Moularadellis’ vision for petit verdot
Petit verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...
was further vindicated when the Kingston 2002 Echelon Selection Petit Verdot wins top gold in its class at the 2003 Royal Melbourne Show and is the only non-mainstream red in the taste-off for the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.
2010: Kingston Estate winemaker Donna Hartwig named The Wine Society Members’ Choice Winemaker of the Year at the 2010 Young Winemaker of the Year awards held in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 12 November 2010
2011: Kingston Estate owner and winemaker Bill Moularadellis appointed to the board of Wine Australia Corporation
See also
- South Australian Wine
- Australian WineAustralian wineThe Australian Wine Industry is the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world, with 760 million litres a year to a large international export market and contributes $5.5 billion per annum to the nation's economy...
- Langhorne Creek
- RiverlandRiverlandThe Riverland, is a region of South Australia. It covers the area near the Murray River from where it flows into South Australia downstream to Blanchetown.The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie and Barmera...