Bay of Shoals is located on Reeves farm which was part of the first land subdivision shown in South Australia.
South Australia’s settlement began at Reeves Point on 27 July 1836. Augustus Reeves was the pioneer who farmed and built his home on the saddle of the hill overlooking the Bay of Shoals. This homestead is now heritage-listed and commonly known as Reeves Cottage.
Owner John Willoughby has a passion for sailing, handed down from his father who sailed on the Nerida with winemaker Tom Hardy in the 1930s. Nerida won the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 1950 and was the only South Australian boat to have accomplished this honour for the next 50 years.
Bay of Shoals chose the distinctive pelican label to honour Councillor Milton Turner who was born on Reeves Farm, which is where the winery was later established. Milton fed the pelicans every day for 15 years on the beach below the vineyard, which was a major tourist attraction. The new boat launching ramp is his legacy, guarded by dozens of watchful pelicans.
Bernie Walsh was approached by owner John Willoughby to create a wine label encapsulating the pelican. Bernie’s 1995 art print series made him Australia’s top selling artist, with sales to 57 countries. He paints with an air brush, highlighting with soft pencils, and his trademark is to extend part of the subject over the boundary of the painting.
Our vineyard is located on the property at Bay of Shoals, just north of Kingscote, Kangaroo Island. In 1992 we put in a nursery bed of cuttings and the resultant rootlings were planted in 1993. Our first harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon was in 1998, Chardonnay followed in 1999, Shiraz in 2000, Riesling in 2001 and Sauvignon Blanc in 2004.
More recently we have planted Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Savagnin which were harvested for the first time in 2012. The majority of our vines are now on rootstock to improve drought resistance, saline tolerance and provide us protection against phylloxera.
We have doubled the density of our plantings to reflect the European style, planting the vines one metre apart, with the expectation that this will result in greater consistency and quality of the wines. The climate is Mediterranean, modified by our coastal location, giving a true maritime environment which leads to a slower ripening period with enhanced flavours and protects against extremes of temperature. To date, we have never experienced a frost.
Our beach block Shiraz cuttings were taken from Penfolds Magill Estate vineyard and were sailed to the Island in Enchantress into the teeth of a sou’westerly gale. Our Riesling vines are 30m from waters-edge and thought to be the closest to the sea in the Southern Hemisphere.
https://www.bayofshoalswines.com.au/