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!

We grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes in our 6.5 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 winter, de-budded to reduce the yield (this increases the quality of the grapes), and then hand harvested over several weeks beginning late summer through to early autumn. We use natural methods whenever possible, and we believe our wines are all the better for it.

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 with a lemon!! Our cats, Wally & Moe, share the office and scare the birds; Ethyl, the horse has retired, and a Covid lamb, Jeffrey (named after the Wiggles Jeff as he took awhile to resuscitate: “Wake up Jeff”) has become Ethyl’s best friend and is very confused about his identity. Please do not enter his paddock during a visit as he has a bad habit of head-butting! A flock of sheep fertilize and graze the vineyard during winter.

We are extremely proud to be able to work alongside the 2018 Young Wine Maker of the Year, Owen Latta from Eastern Peake and Latta Vino wines. Owen purchases the bulk of our fruit and makes a small portion of wine for the Pierrepoint label in a similar style to what our valued Customers expect.

Our relationship actually began in 2002 with Owen’s Father, Norm Latta from Eastern Peak Vineyard purchasing our very first, tiny crop of Pinot Noir.  We are very excited to rekindle our relationship with the renowned Latta Family and hope to continue for many years to come!

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.

*Exert from “Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip” by Billis & Kenyon.