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"Kirkton" Estate, the first vineyard to be established in the Hunter Valley, is located in a picturesque river valley, on the banks of the Hunter River, approximately 6 kilometers north of Branxton.
Although the first vineyard acreage in Australia, was planted at Rose Hill in 1791, Kirktons' historic importance grew from its intrinsic association with James Busby (the owner's son), and its role in being the incubator for what remains the largest and most diverse viticulture assessment project undertaken in Australia. The 365 varieties of vines James Busby planted at his fathers vineyard "Kirkton", together with the numerous publications relating to Viticulture and Winemaking, bestowed upon him, recognition as the "Father of the Australian Wine Industry".
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James Busby (click for short Biography) , who trained in Oenology in France in 1819-20, saw in the landscape of the Colony and its surrounding regions, substantial potential for growth in the establishment of Vineyards and Wine production. In 1825, a year after arriving in New South Wales, this belief drove him to write Australia’s first wine book, “A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and the Art of Making Wine”. The book was, largely scientific and impractical and had little or no impact, therefore, in order to better encourage small settlers to plant vineyards, in 1830 he wrote “A Manual of Plain Directions for Planting and Cultivating Vineyard and for Making Wine in New South Wales”.
This passion further manifested itself in James, when in 1831 he undertook a self-funded tour of vineyards in Spain and France and collected 678 different varieties of vines including 437 from the Botanic gardens at Montepellier and 133 from the Royal Nursery at Luxembourg. In England he obtained 44 varieties from Sion House, near Kew Gardens. Busby donated this large collection to the government and it was shipped to Australia, planted in the Botanic Gardens at Sydney and made freely available to prospective viticulturists. During this time he wrote a subsequently published book/report titled, "Journal of a Tour Through Some of the Vineyards of Spain and France".
On his return from London in January 1833, he planted 365 different varieties, being duplicates from his great vine importation, on his fathers' property 'Kirkton' in the Hunter Valley. and also published the "Report on the Vines Introduced into the Colony of New South Wales in the Year 1832 ".
The sheer scale of James Busby’ efforts in advancing the development of viticulture and viniculture in Australia, makes him an icon of the Industry.
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