About Us
About Us
We are Damon and Maddy Koerner, the husband and wife team behind Koerner Wine, growing grapes and making wine from the Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley.
Damon is our viticulturist and winemaker and his interest in the wine industry started young, growing up on his family’s vineyard in Clare. Maddy brings a background in marketing and advertising. After studying, working and travelling across Australia and overseas, we chose to settle in Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. We live here with our three children on the same property as our winery and Home Block vineyard.
We work with a mix of classic and alternative varieties that are suited to each region and site. With a long-term focus on growing more of our own fruit, we currently own and operate three vineyard sites across our two regions.
THE KOERNER PHILOSOPHY
Our philosophy is simple: great wines are made in the vineyard. Working with high quality fruit, we focus on making wines that reflect where they came from.
Our attention and timing in the vineyard is essential to shaping each wine. From the moment the grapes are harvested, every parcel is handled individually, allowing the site, variety, and vintage to shape the wine.
A great understanding of each vineyard and variety allows us to make unique wines that tell their individual story.
GROWING GRAPES
Growing our own grapes is central to the future of Koerner and we currently own and farm three vineyard sites across the Hills and Clare. Our focus is on increasing the amount of estate grown fruit each year.
In the Hills, at our Home Block in Lenswood, Hazeldene Vineyard, we grow Chardonnay, Savagnin, Gamay, and Sangiovese. We have also recently planted five acres of Chardonnay at our second Hills site in Forest Range, The Forest Vineyard, located at the top of Lenswood. We also source fruit from a small number of vineyards, predominantly around Lenswood.
In Clare, all our fruit is grown within a 750-metre radius, including our own Vivian Vineyard, which produces a range of red grape varieties. We also source fruit from the Koerner family vineyard and close neighbours at the Parish vineyard. The varieties we focus on in Clare are Riesling, Vermentino, Sciacarello, Sangiovese & Cabernet.
WINEMAKING STYLE
Ultimately we aim to produce wines to a style that we enjoy drinking. Generally these are light, fresh, textured and well structured – easier drinking wines. To achieve this we pick early and use a minimal intervention winemaking style.
Our reds are bright, vibrant and can be enjoyed young with a great balance between primary fruit, acidity and phenolics.
Our whites are aromatic, expressing primary fruit while showing mouthfeel, structure and texture.
THE WINERY
In 2018, we purchased an old apple orchard, packing and storage facility in Lenswood. Since then we have slowly restored and modified the 80 year old sheds into a state of the art modern winery.
The facility is designed to handle around 150 tonnes of premium fruit each season. Full temperature control of tanks and the cellar helps create the perfect environment for making wine using natural yeasts.
In 2021, we installed a packaging line that bottles, labels and boxes all our wines ready for despatch. This has created far greater control in allowing us to bottle the wines exactly when they are ready.
Where it All Began
Damon grew up on his family’s vineyard in Leasingham, Clare Valley, with a vineyard as his backyard. It’s no surprise his passion for viticulture began at a young age. From helping his dad as a boy to working across various vineyards in both Clare and the Hills during high school and university, Damon was immersed in the world of wine from the very start. It’s incredibly special for us to continue working with the Clare Valley vineyards that are part of Damon’s family heritage and that remain a key part of our Clare portfolio.
Maddy’s roots run deep in the winemaking industry, as her grandfather was a legendary winemaker in the Barossa Valley. Today, we live in Lenswood with our three children, growing our business and writing our own family story.