Torbreck Vintners

Torbreck Vintners was founded in 1994 by David Powell, who had worked at the Barossa Valley winery Rockford in the early 1990s. Powell named the estate after a logging forest near Inverness, Scotland, where he had worked, and Celtic references run through the names of the wines. From the outset the focus has been the classic Barossa reds: Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro. The 1996 RunRig, only the second vintage of that wine, was acclaimed by The Wine Advocate in 1999, an early success for the estate.

• Founded in 1994 by David Powell, who had worked at Rockford in the Barossa Valley in the early 1990s
• Named after a forest near Inverness, Scotland, where Powell had worked as a logger
• Focus on classic Barossa reds: Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro
• The 1996 RunRig, only the second vintage of that wine, was acclaimed by The Wine Advocate in 1999

Powell's marriage ended in the early 2000s, and the estate went into receivership in 2003. Jack Cowin, the man behind the Australian fast-food outlet Hungry Jack's, bought Torbreck out of receivership under an agreement giving Powell the option to buy the business back after five years. Powell exercised that option in 2008 for $20.5 million, through a partnership with Peter Kight, proprietor of Quivira Vineyards and Winery in California's Dry Creek Valley. Kight took full ownership, including Powell's minority stake, that same year, while Powell stayed on as managing director and winemaker. Kight later did not renew Powell's employment agreement, and Powell left the winery in August 2013. At that point Craig Isbel, hired by Powell in 2006, had been in charge of the cellar since that year. Proprietors Pete and Terri Kight lead Torbreck today.

• Receivership in 2003 after the marriage breakdown; Jack Cowin (Hungry Jack's) bought the estate with a buy-back option for Powell
• Powell reacquired Torbreck in 2008 for $20.5 million with Californian vintner Peter Kight of Quivira Vineyards
• Kight took full ownership, including Powell's minority stake, in 2008; Powell's employment contract was not renewed and he left in August 2013
• Craig Isbel, hired by Powell in 2006, ran the cellar at the 2013 transition; proprietors Pete and Terri Kight lead the estate today

Ian Hongell is GM and Chief Winemaker. He joined as winemaker in 2017 after 18 years at Peter Lehmann, two years after viticulturist Nigel Blieschke made the same move in 2015. When Blieschke arrived, the 1850s-planted Forebear block at Hillside Vineyard was in poor condition, and the team set about resurrecting the vines; Hongell calls the project "a 10-year journey."

• Ian Hongell: GM and Chief Winemaker; joined as winemaker in 2017 after 18 years at Peter Lehmann
• Nigel Blieschke: viticulturist, joined in 2015, two years ahead of Hongell
• Revival of the 1850s-planted Forebear block at Hillside Vineyard since Blieschke's arrival, which Hongell calls "a 10-year journey"

Torbreck's five estate vineyards lie along a 20-kilometre north-south ridge on the western edge of the Barossa Valley: Hillside, The Laird Vineyard, Descendant, The Daylight Chamber and Keller Vineyard. The Springbett family established Hillside in the early 1850s. The 220-acre Southern Barossa estate holds the 'Ancestor Vines', planted around 1850, which supply fruit for RunRig and The Forebear, and its heritage-listed winery now houses private event spaces and tasting rooms. The Laird Vineyard, also called the Gnadenfrei vineyard, is a five-acre, south-facing site on the ridge between Seppeltsfield and Marananga, planted in 1958. Descendant sits beside the winery and cellar door on Roennfeldt Road and was planted in 1994 with cuttings from RunRig's grower vineyards. Keller Vineyard, in Greenock, grows old-vine Shiraz in ironstone-rich soils. Thanks to South Australia's quarantine policy, many 19th-century Barossa plantings escaped the phylloxera outbreak of the 1880s and survive on their own roots.

• Five estate vineyards across a 20 km ridge on the Barossa's western edge: Hillside, The Laird Vineyard, Descendant, The Daylight Chamber and Keller Vineyard
• Hillside: established 1850s by the Springbett family, 220 acres, home to 'Ancestor Vines' supplying RunRig and The Forebear, heritage-listed winery
• The Laird Vineyard (Gnadenfrei): five acres, south-facing, between Seppeltsfield and Marananga, planted 1958
• Descendant: beside the Roennfeldt Road winery and cellar door, planted 1994 from RunRig cuttings; Keller Vineyard: old-vine Shiraz in Greenock's ironstone soils

RunRig, the flagship, blends Shiraz from old dry-grown Barossa vineyards with a small proportion of Viognier. The fruit comes from six old-vine vineyards, some with plantings over 170 years old; it is hand-harvested, fermented in open-top fermenters and basket pressed, and the wine spends about 30 months in new and seasoned French oak barriques before it is bottled unfiltered. Torbreck likens its fragrance and structure to Côte Rôtie and its power to the concentrated wines of Hermitage, in the Northern Rhône. The Laird is a single-vineyard Shiraz from the Gnadenfrei vineyard, fermented in small open-top fermenters, matured 36 months in 100% new French oak barriques and cellared a further two years in bottle before release; it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The Forebear comes from the 1850s-planted Forebear block at Hillside Vineyard and spends 24 months in new French oak, then three more years in bottle before release. The Factor is matured 24 months in new and seasoned French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Descendant, from vines grown from RunRig cuttings, is co-fermented with Viognier skins and matured 20 months in second-use French oak barriques previously used for RunRig; it was the first Shiraz-Viognier co-ferment in the Barossa. The Struie blends Shiraz from a 40-year-old Eden Valley vineyard and an 80-year-old Barossa Valley vineyard, matured around 18 months in seasoned and new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Woodcutter's Shiraz, made in a more approachable style, comes from younger Barossa vineyards and spends 12 months in seasoned French oak barriques and foudres, also bottled unfined and unfiltered.

• RunRig: old dry-grown Barossa Shiraz with Viognier, six vineyards with plantings over 170 years old, about 30 months in new and seasoned French oak, bottled unfiltered; likened by the estate to Côte Rôtie and Hermitage
• The Laird: single vineyard (Gnadenfrei), 36 months 100% new French oak then 2 years in bottle, bottled unfined and unfiltered
• The Forebear: 1850s Hillside Forebear block, 24 months new French oak then 3 years bottle age; The Factor: 24 months new/seasoned French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered
• Descendant: co-fermented with Viognier skins in second-use RunRig oak for 20 months, first Barossa Shiraz-Viognier co-ferment; The Struie: 40-year Eden Valley and 80-year Barossa fruit, ~18 months oak; Woodcutter's Shiraz: 12 months seasoned oak and foudres

RunRig Shiraz sits in the Exceptional category of Langton's Classification of Australian Wine, which ranks wines in three tiers (Exceptional, Outstanding and Excellent) on their track record in Australia's fine wine auction market. Descendant Shiraz Viognier sits in the Excellent category. Among current releases, Erin Larkin of The Wine Advocate scored RunRig 97 points, The Laird 98 and The Forebear 99.

• RunRig: Exceptional category, Langton's Classification of Australian Wine; Descendant: Excellent category
• Langton's Classification ranks wines across three tiers (Exceptional, Outstanding, Excellent) based on Australian fine wine auction track record
• Current-release RunRig: 97 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
• Current-release The Laird: 98 points; current-release The Forebear: 99 points, both Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

Torbreck describes its winemaking as deliberately hands-off and traditional, letting fruit and vineyard character speak for themselves. The wines are not fined or filtered, and barrel maturation takes as long as it takes. The estate works in long-term partnership with multi-generational Barossa growers, and each year names a Grower of the Year, whose vineyard is bottled as a single-vineyard wine called The Grower's Cut.

• Minimal-intervention philosophy: no fining or filtration; barrel maturation takes as long as it takes
• Hands-off, traditional winemaking intended to let fruit and vineyard character speak for themselves
• Long-term partnerships with multi-generational Barossa growers
• Annual Grower of the Year award celebrated through a single-vineyard bottling, The Grower's Cut

This article was rebuilt from Torbreck's own site (torbreck.com) and independent reporting, and last verified on 2026-10-12. Primary sources: torbreck.com home, Our Story, Hillside Vineyard, Vineyards, Cellar Door, current-vintage collection, Experience Torbreck, Contact Us, Annual Allocations pages, and the RunRig, The Laird, The Factor, The Forebear, Descendant, The Struie and Woodcutter's Shiraz product pages. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator ("Torbreck Owner Ousts Founder Dave Powell From Australian Winery," Sept. 3, 2013; "Australia's Torbreck Back in David Powell's Hands," Sept. 5, 2008), WBM Online (Langton's Classification VII list), and The Drinks Business ("Old vines, new thinking: Torbreck at 30," March 2024).