Coriole History

Coriole's old house and barn were constructed in about 1860. The slate roof of the old house, and its immense slate slab floors are typical of early houses of the district. Coriole was first owned by an English company, managed by Geoffrey Kay, a distant relative of the the Kays of nearby Amery Winery.

In the first years it was probably used to run cattle, but the district's first vineyard had already been established, just over the road, by the Mannings of Hope Farm(Seaview). Manning planted vines and named the property Hope Farm after the English word for a blind valley.

Coriole's old shiraz vines were planted in 1919, when the district was experiencing a strong surge in export growth of its "burgundy" style wines to England and increasing wine sales interstate.

The paths of Coriole and Seaview crossed in 1935, when the Kays bought Hope Farm. The Mannings had sold Hope Farm to the Cravens in 1891, and during World War I, the Craven's son was killed in action. In his grief, his father lost his mind, and the property was managed by his wife until 1935.

In that year, she sold it to the Kays of Coriole, who ran both properties until 1948, when they sold to Edward Chaffey, and it became known as Seaview. In 1962, Coriole was sold to John Snell,who was of Swiss descent. Snell established Australia's first organic winery, Chateau Ban Sante. He farmed the original shiraz vines without chemical inputs, and built a small winery, which remains the nucleus of Coriole's modern winery today.

Hugh and Molly Lloyd acquired the property in 1968 and the first vintage release under the Coriole label was 1970. Hugh Lloyd (1914 - 1994) was a general practitioner in Adelaide's southern suburbs. The son of a Methodist minister, he had been raised in a teetotal Adelaide family, but had become very interested in wine in the 1950s.

The 1980's were a relative quite time in the Australian wine industry. It was during this period that Coriole pioneered the development of Italian varieties by planting Sangiovese, which became the only Sangiovese produced in the country for many years. Sangiovese is now the second most important variety after Shiraz, but other Italian varieties are also grown including Nebbiolo, Barbera, and most recently Fiano. Also during this period Coriole was one of the first companies to release an extra virgin olive oil and start producing aged sweet vinegar - released each year after five years maturation.

However as the 1990s developed, interest in wine boomed. This was reinforced by the increasing evidence of the health benefits of red wine. During the 1990's the winery expanded its markets both in Australia and overseas.

Winemakers at Coriole have included Robert Paul, Stephen Hall and since 1999 Grant Harrison. Paul Lloyd,the youngest sibling of the Lloyd family, became business manager in 1993.

Today, Coriole employs eleven full time staff, and crushes more than 500 tonnes a year.