Family
Andrew, Jennifer, Alexandra (Ally) and Nicholas (Nick) Lacey together with their menagerie are the Pierrepoint Family! Andrew operates a Town Planning Consultancy Business from Tarrington, servicing the Western District and manages the vineyard. Jennifer manages employees, contractors, marketing, accounts and the Cellar Door. Both children are invaluable at harvest time!
Vineyard
We grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes in our five hectare vineyard, which was was established in 1998. With red volcanic soil and a gentle, cool climate punctuated by brilliantly sunny summer days, Pierrepoint is ideally situated for these varieties. The vines are tended with traditional care, being hand pruned in the spring, de-budded to reduce the yield (this increases the quality of the grapes), and then hand harvested over several weeks in the autumn. Taking a stroll among the vines, you’ll see geese, ducks and chickens roaming free. They are part of Pierrepoint’s pest-control program – the vineyard has been chemical-free since 2000. We use natural methods whenever possible, and we believe our wines are all the better for it.
Menagerie
Our Border Collie, Bear, takes it upon himself to welcome visitors onto the property – don’t worry, he is extremely friendly. If you have a spare moment, he loves nothing better than a good game of fetch. Our cat, Charlotte, shares the office and scares the birds; the horse and pony have retired; a flock of sheep fertilize and graze the vineyard during winter, and the ducks, geese and chickens keep the insects at bay whilst also fertilizing the vineyard, and providing us with lovely fresh eggs as a fringe benefit.
Wine-Maker – Scott Ireland
Scott, a renowned Wine Maker, has 30 years experience in the industry. He began his career with Peter Lehmann in the Barossa Valley of South Australia and during the 1980s gained experience in many more wineries throughout Australia, France and the US. Scott purchases fruit from a number of vineyards to make his label Provenence Wines.
Our relationship with Scott began in 2007 after Scott expressed interest in purchasing fruit from the Pierrepoint vineyards. The white varieties were producing sufficient fruit to consider adding them to the Pierrepoint portfolio, however our winery was not equipped to venture in to the production of white wine. We therefore enthusiastically contracted Scott who has made the Pierrepoint suite of award winning wines since 2008
Estate Name
We’ve heard a few variations, but around here we pronounce it “Peer-Point.”
The original property named “Pierrepoint” consisted of 14,000 acres carrying 400 cattle and 6,000 sheep. The license – No 123 – was taken out by Jas Brown in 1845 and was cancelled in 1860 after changing ownership 3 times. The bluestone homestead was neglected over the years and was demolished in 1948. * The second “Pierrepoint” was built by the Schultz family in 1907 and consisted of 5 brick rooms with 4 more being added in the 1920s. It was referred to as “Pierrepoint” from the 1930s when the son, Oscar, took possession of the property which remained in the Schultz family until 1983.
The (albeit small) mountain “Mount Pierrepoint” between Hamilton and Tarrington, on the Hamilton Highway, was named by the Surveyor-General, Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836. Major Mitchell arrived in Australia in 1827 to become the Surveyor-General of the colony of New South Wales, a position he held for 27 years. He was responsible for the placement of roads, bridges and towns, and as a result of leading four expeditions of exploration, he carried out most of the surveys of Eastern Australia, which lead to new grazing lands being established in southern Victoria.
Major Mitchell named Mount Pierrepoint after Major Charles Pierrepont who served in the 26th Regiment of Foot with the British Services and fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Charles Pierrepont was promoted to the position of Major in 1811, as sketching officer, to survey and map the terrain. He was killed on the 19th September 1812 “.. in the attack of the hornwork at Burgos, Spain”. (Appendix 1 of “Wellington’s Headquarters”, S. G. P Ward). In an unpublished paper, “British Military Map-Making in the Peninsular War” by Yolande Holdson, a paragraph explains the connection between Major Mitchell and Major Pierrepont: “…The famous topopgraphers, Bainbrigge (Mount Baimbridge is located north of Hamilton), Mitchell, Freeth, Pierrepont and Colleton, to name a few, were among the early ‘graduates’ of the first army educational system to be introduced to this country.”
Charles Pierrepont is buried in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist Church, Perlethorpe, Nottinghamshire which is part of the Thoresby Park estate.
*Exerpt from “Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip” by Billis & Kenyon.