A desire to produce premium handcrafted red wines with true varietal and regional characteristics, saw Dominic & Krystina Morris establish Pondalowie Vineyards at Bridgewater on Loddon, near Bendigo, in 1996. There they planted 13 acres of Shiraz, 5 acres Tempranillo, 5 acres Cabernet Sauvignon, 0.5 acre Malbec and 1 acre of Viognier. Their vineyards are farmed using organic principals and are pruned by hand. Yields are restricted to 1-1.5 tonnes per acre, maximising flavour & concentration in the resultant wines. Additional fruit is also sourced from premium grape growers in the Heathcote wine region with whom they've had an association for over 20 years.
Alongside running Pondalowie with wife Krystina, Dominic also worked in Portgual from 1995 to 2011 as chief winemaker for leading Portuguese producer Quinta do Crasto and was proud to have helped them achieve their recognition as one of Portugal’s best table wine producers.
In 2016 Dominic & Krystina relocated their winery and cellar door to Bambra, nestled in the beautiful Surf Coast Hinterland, near the Great Ocean Road, in Southern Victoria and established a second vineyard, fulfilling another lifelong dream; to grow and produce cool-climate Pinot Noir. The new Pinot Noir vineyard will soon offer another dimension to the range of wines produced.
Wines under the Pondalowie label generally represent those wines produced from our estate vineyards in Bendigo.
The Pinga wine label was created to allow us to source small parcels of interesting grapes from premium independent grape growers in the Heathcote and Central Victorian wine regions.