The Watkins family entered the wine industry in 1997 when David and Ros Watkins planted their first vineyard in South Australia. In 2019, David and Ros brought their children into the fold: Sam Watkins as Winemaking Director, Ben Watkins at Commercial Director and Jo Watkins as Export, Sales and Marketing Director. Together the Watkins family own and operate a winery and vineyard (8ha) in Clarendon, Adelaide Hills and a vineyard in Langhorne Creek (141ha).
There was an opportunity to start selling their premium wine from these vineyards directly to consumers, which saw the start of the Watkins label. Sam Watkins, as the winemaker, has spent over 15 years training and refining his palate. Sam has undertaken vintages in well-known wine regions across the world including the Napa Valley in the USA and the Duoro Valley in Portugal. His specialisation focuses on unlocking the optimal expression of variety from the cool climate premium fruit produced on the Watkins' vineyards.
Watkins are the new wave of serious winemakers with numerous accolades awarded to their wines right from the first year of the brand’s existence including a wine show trophy. Ben, Sam and Jo as the new generation look forward to continuing on this path of creating modern, juicy styles of wine with rock solid dependability. This is fresh winemaking born from winemaking excellence.
