Plunkett Fowles is an alliance formed in 2005 when the Fowles family joined the Plunkett family in their vineyard which they had manicured on and off since 1968.  A year later it was discovered that the families were actually related!

Plunkett Fowles occupies the rolling plateaux at the heights of the Strathbogie Ranges located 130 km north of Melbourne. These highlands are over 400 million years old – the ranges are a giant mass of granite rising 500 metres above sea level.  The mountain soils are sandy clay loams overlying orange clays of varying depths to 1.5 metres. The position of the vineyards on the the hills ensures that damaging frosts virtually never get their hands on the delicate grapes, and an almost constant breeze over the ranges and through the vineyards helps stop the sub-zero air from lingering between the vines and causing rot when it rains.

The families own vineyards totalling over 500 acres. These holdings include mature plantings of riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, semillon, verdelho, gewürztraminer, viognier, pinot gris, pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.  They also have some small plantings of albarino, arneis, vermintino sangiovese and lagrein.  While this is an enormous range, they've given great consideration for the location, grape growing conditions and winemaking styles.  This is expressed in their tiered label range.

Plunkett Fowles have five main brands: 490m, Stone Dwellers, The Rule, The Exception and Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch. Their wines have been highly awarded, proving that this region is capable of producing superb cool-climate expressions of  many varietals that Australians have come to adore.

- Daniel Jess