Our story
In 2002 Phil took on a young vineyard on Keynes Hill. Sarah joined him the next year. In 2006 they bought the grove next door. The work since then has been to farm that hill, and to bottle two older Eden Valley sites when the fruit is there to bottle.
Our story
The map
Boongarrie is shallow ground at 430 to 460 metres. It was planted in 1998 to Shiraz and Cabernet. Those blocks are now in production. In 2021 part of the upper Cabernet came out for Riesling, Grenache and Gamay — cuttings and young vines, not yet the face of the house.
The Riesling is Mirooloo Road. The Grenache is Springton. The estate reds are Boongarrie. Pinot, when we bottle it, comes from Kyffhäuser in Flaxman Valley — a grower site, not the hill we farm.
The Riesling is Mirooloo Road. The Grenache is Springton. The estate reds are Boongarrie. Pinot, when we bottle it, comes from Kyffhäuser in Flaxman Valley — a grower site, not the hill we farm.
Sarah
Sarah’s first drive up the long red-gum driveway is still the picture she carries. Years with the Australian Ballet, and cities on the other side of the world, and then this hill. She does not imagine living anywhere else.
Lewis and Olive grew up here. Jinx, the greyhound, has the run of the place. Two alpacas and a small flock of Australian White sheep do some of the under-vine work. Sarah hopes a little of the place gets into the glass. The bread on the table is hers.
Lewis and Olive grew up here. Jinx, the greyhound, has the run of the place. Two alpacas and a small flock of Australian White sheep do some of the under-vine work. Sarah hopes a little of the place gets into the glass. The bread on the table is hers.
Phil
Phil grew up at the family winery in Tanunda. Margaret and Peter Lehmann were his parents. The work at Boongarrie is his and Sarah’s.
He trained first as an electrical engineer. Then the vintages, in this order: St Supéry in Napa, Longridge in Stellenbosch, a short stretch selling wine in London, Domaine Jacques Prieur in Meursault, Stellenbosch again. The oenology diploma at Adelaide came after that, in 2000 and 2001.
Barossa wineries after the diploma included Yalumba — among them the first years of Mesh Eden Valley Riesling — then Peter Lehmann Wines as a winemaker, a season with his brother at david Franz, and Teusner. From 2013 he was chief winemaker at WD Wines, where he built the Vickery Riesling label with John Vickery. Max & Me had already started, in 2011, as the wine from this hill.
He still talks about himself as a farmer first. Each season leaves its mark. The job is not to correct it.
He trained first as an electrical engineer. Then the vintages, in this order: St Supéry in Napa, Longridge in Stellenbosch, a short stretch selling wine in London, Domaine Jacques Prieur in Meursault, Stellenbosch again. The oenology diploma at Adelaide came after that, in 2000 and 2001.
Barossa wineries after the diploma included Yalumba — among them the first years of Mesh Eden Valley Riesling — then Peter Lehmann Wines as a winemaker, a season with his brother at david Franz, and Teusner. From 2013 he was chief winemaker at WD Wines, where he built the Vickery Riesling label with John Vickery. Max & Me had already started, in 2011, as the wine from this hill.
He still talks about himself as a farmer first. Each season leaves its mark. The job is not to correct it.
The estate
Boongarrie sits on the northern slopes of Keynes Hill. Ten hectares of vines, four hectares of olive trees — Manzanillo, Pendolino, Kalamata. Shiraz and Cabernet from 1998. Riesling, Grenache and Gamay from the 2021 planting, still coming on.
We do not pretend the young estate Riesling is Mirooloo Road. When it is good enough to wear its own name, it will.
We do not pretend the young estate Riesling is Mirooloo Road. When it is good enough to wear its own name, it will.
Life on the estate
We live in the house overlooking the vines. The wine shed sits among them. The principle is simple and easy to say too loudly: leave the ground better than we found it.
The name Max & Me is for the dog who introduced us. It is the name on the bottle. The wines inside the bottle are the sites.
The name Max & Me is for the dog who introduced us. It is the name on the bottle. The wines inside the bottle are the sites.
Private tastings
If you would like to taste with us, write. We need at least a week. Tastings are with Phil and Sarah, in the wine shed on the estate — not a cellar-door circuit.
People who already know the place are easy to welcome back. The farm is not closed to anyone else.
Use the contact form and we will find a time.
People who already know the place are easy to welcome back. The farm is not closed to anyone else.
Use the contact form and we will find a time.