Burnt Acre Vineyard was purchased by Cliff Stubbs & Maureen O'Connor in 1989, and named 'Burnt Acre' after a 1991 grass fire.
The vines were originally planted back in 1972 by local farmers Duncan and Emily McKenzie to diversify their farm, and for many years the grapes were sold to other wineries.

Our wines are available at many regional wine shops and restaurants.

The principal varieties of grapes grown at Burnt Acre are Shiraz with small quantities of Grenache, Mondeuse and Voignier. A minimal spray program in the vineyard allows us to grow clean, chemical-free grapes, and subsistence irrigation keeps both cropping levels and berry size small.

The wines are made with these goals: fruit concentration, soft tannins in reds and lingering flavours that develop beautifully over 3 - 7 years.

Our wine journey began as a wishful dream and a passion to make a truly distinctive group of wines that wine lovers would consider an essential part of their cellar.

The red wines of France and Spain whilst backpacking in the early 80’s started my interest in wine, influenced no doubt from my general dislike of mass-produced mainstream beer.

A chance cellar door visit to Passing Clouds, then based at Kingower in Central Victoria, along with my father’s wide interest in wine, triggered a lifelong desire to make great wine. There was much learning to do along the journey. A growing friendship with Graeme Leith at Passing Clouds and a job offer to work there under his mentoring was a life-changing decision to leave Melbourne and start life in the wine industry.

About this time a small Shiraz vineyard at Marong, 19km from Bendigo came on the market. Seventeen year old vines back in 1989, with available water and room to expand, we became vineyard owners. These vines are now 45 years old and is the great backbone of our red wine blends.

Across 25 years of winemaking, our style has evolved into wines of richness and power. Wines that are ripe and full of flavour, but also soft with fine tannins and a lingering finish. Wines that reflect the place where they are grown, but also the season in which they have grown, as no two years are the same. Vintage variation is a highlight of small vineyard production.

Small batch hands-on winemaking and gentle basket pressing are part of the methods used to create these wines; wines that you sense were crafted by people who truly love making them.