Drayton's Family Wines
Draytons Wines is a family owned winery in Pokolbin © Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism [©Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism]
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Pokolbin NSW 2321
Australia
The Drayton's are one of the Hunter Valley's pioneering winemaking families and it is one of the few companies that is still family owned and operated.
It has been over one hundred and fifty years since the first Drayton trod on rich Hunter Valley soil.
That Drayton was Joseph Drayton. Joseph was born in 1825 at Lincolnshire in England and at the age of twenty seven set sail for Sydney with his wife, Anna, and their two small boys. Tragically Joseph lost a son, a new born daughter and his wife during the voyage.
In 1853 he and son Frederick journeyed to Lochinvar and after several years moved to Pokolbin where Joseph acquired 80 acres of land. This was cleared and Joseph built the "Bellevue" homestead. In the late 1850's, Joseph turned from growing grain to plant his first vines in the rich virgin loam of "Bellevue".
In 2008, a winery fire and explosion resulted in the death of winemaker, Trevor Drayton and severe burning of his assistant William Rikard-Bell. Today, the Australian and Hunter Valley winemaking community still mourn Trevor, while William is back at Drayton's, making wine and winning awards.
The family enterprise is now in the hands of Max Drayton and his two sons John, and Greg. Max's 60 plus years of experience in the wine industry makes him an invaluable source of advice, not only for his sons, but also for other growers in the district. Greg has devoted his entire working life to the family company while John joined the company in 1989 after 13 years of teaching.
The Drayton family is very proud of its history over six generations and the part it has played in the development of the region that is now known as "Hunter Valley Wine Country".
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