St Mary’s Wines and Spirits is owned and operated by the Mulligan Family, which is based 15 kms west of the Penola Township.
The Mulligan family first moved to the southeast from the Flinders Ranges in the early 1900’s. Patrick and Catherine Mulligan relocated their family to the Penola / Coonawarra region and then proceeded to buy up parcels of land for their children.
Phil and Noreen Mulligan, son and daughter in law of Patrick and Catherine, purchased a plot of land 15 kms west of Penola in 1937, this plot is where St Mary’s Wines and Spirits presides today.
Barry and Glenys Mulligan purchased the farm from Phil and Noreen in the late 1970’s and in the early 80’s started planting vines on the hills at St Mary’s.
St Mary’s Vineyard
St Mary’s Vineyard established in 1985 is planted on Terra Rossa soil over limestone that varies from a depth of a few millimeters to a meter in some parts of the vineyard.
Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir.
Vintage: Harvest at St Mary’s is generally over a 2 – 3 week period from early April.
Winemaking: At vintage grapes are picked in small batches firstly from the higher stony areas of the vineyard, then from the middle and lower slopes as the grapes from the different levels of the vineyard ripen. The grapes are then put in open vats where we hand plunge them during fermentation. The wine is basket pressed into oak barrels for aging in temperature controlled storage before bottling. All wines are bottled at St Mary’s winery.
St Mary’s Spirits
St Mary’s Spirits was started in 2015 with the St Mary’s Vodka range and now it has expanded to incorporate a Cane Spirit range, unaged rum, and a ‘London Dry’ Gin.
The same philosophy that we use in our winemaking transfers across into the crafting of St Mary’s spirits. We look for flavour , colour, aromatics , presence in the glass and we feel we deliver that with all of our products.