Eloper Wines

‘Eloper' was born of the notion to ‘escape without permission'. After a busy corporate life in the resources sector, Mick and Melissa Anstey yearned to return home to the Adelaide Hills for a life on the land and some fine wine. Their purchase of a historic 31.5ha Kuitpo property in 2014 was serendipitous: it was a piece of farming land once owned by Sir Douglas Mawson, complete with an abandoned gold mine and 5 acres of mature sauvignon blanc. The Pottery Road Vineyard, planted in 1996, had previously been a source of fruit for Starvedog Lane and Shaw + Smith. The Ansteys have restructured the vineyard from spur pruning to cane pruning in an effort improve uniformity and fruit quality, and have also planted shiraz. It is one of the latest ripening sites in the Adelaide Hills. A collaboration with David Blows and the Springhill Vineyard at Macclesfield provides tempranillo and shiraz - this vineyard was planted in '98 at the behest of Hardys and is well known to Peter Dawson. -JAMES HALLIDAY