Trifon Estate
Trifon Estate is an Australian family owned, single estate vineyard located in Wahring in the Goulburn Valley, Central Victoria, 150km north of Melbourne. A region that has been producing high-quality wines since 1860.
The estate consists of 1450 acres of land and 6km’s of river frontage. There are 16 grape varieties planted on the estate making it the largest moderately cool climate, single estate vineyard in Victoria and one of the largest in Australia.
Why Trifon Estate?
Saint Trifon was born around 225 A.D. In Europe and around the world he is acknowledged as the ‘Patron Saint of Winegrowers and Winemakers’ and at times referred to ‘Trifon the Pruner’. The 14th of February is celebrated worldwide as St. Valentine’s Day, and this day also has significance as St. Trifon’s Day where parts of Europe celebrate as the start of vine pruning; however in the Goulburn Valley we celebrate this as the start of our harvest and vintage.
History of Trifon Estate
Our founders Nick and Pauline have a long history in the Australian wine industry as vintners, vignerons and négociants which started way back in 1970. August 2020 marked their 50th anniversary in the wine industry which was a proud milestone and achievement for them, their family and all staff at Trifon Estate.
A lengthy search to find the right parcel of land, from which to bring the family’s dreams and vision of their own vineyard to life culminated in the purchase of land in Wahring, Goulburn Valley, Central Victoria in 1998, today known as ‘Trifon Estate’.
Site selection was paramount regarding accessibility to natural resources. The belief that where and how you choose to grow your grapes is vital to the style and quality of wines produced, crafting our wines using modern and tradition wine making methods.
It is the family’s belief that this ethos helps safeguard the longevity of the vineyard for future generations, hence Trifon Estate has continuously delivered high-quality and award-winning ‘single estate wines that enrich the senses’ since the first vintage in 2001.
As a family-owned Australian Business, we proudly display the Family Business Australia (FBA) Emblem as a contributor to Australians’ everyday life and their future.
History of Australian Wine
Australia’s wine industry has grown from a few small plantings at Sydney Cove to a country known as one of the top wine producing countries in the world in just over 200 years.
The first vines arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, although the majority of classic grape varieties were introduced from Europe to Australia in the 1830’s.
The Australian wine industry was established by early European settlers who used their knowledge and winemaking skills to establish commercial viticulture in most states by 1850.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world to produce all the major wine styles and there are now over 100 different varieties of vines planted in Australia most of which include: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Durif, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Grigio, Traminer, Marsanne and more.
Today Australia is the fifth largest exporter of Wine in the World and has rapidly become a world leader in innovation, quality, quantity and the diversity of wine varietals it produces and exports to all continents.
Goulburn Valley
Region
Trifon Estate is in the Goulburn Valley region which is part of the Central Victoria GI Zone.
The region covers a broad area encompassing beautiful countryside including vineyards and wineries for the wine enthusiast to discover. It is known as the fruit bowl of Victoria with spectacular panoramas of rocky landscapes, waterfalls, Goulburn River, lakes and beautiful forest.
The first vines were planted in the area in 1860 after a government land survey in 1850 found the area to be suitable to plant vines and achieve high quality due to its soils, moderately cool climate and abundance of water resources.
Wahring
Locality
Trifon Estate is located in Wahring in the Goulburn Valley region which is 150 kilometres north east of Melbourne or approximately a 2-hour drive.
The locality and surrounding countryside contains extensive river frontage, crop fields, orchards, horse studs, grazing land, farms, regional rail line and the Goulburn Weir.
Central Victoria
GI Zone
Central Victoria is the GI Zone (Geographical Indication Zone*) where the Goulburn Valley region is located.
The zone covers a broad area encompassing some incredible landscape, ripe for wine enthusiasts to discover. The zone is bursting with spectacular panoramas of rocky landscapes, waterfalls and vineyards. The combination of farming and forest country makes for an interesting mix of things to do, hence why visitors like to rediscover it time and time again.
*GI Zones are Registered, Protected and Regulated by Wine Australia.
Trifon Estate
Our property consists of 1450 acres of land and 6km’s of Goulburn River frontage. Once an ancient riverbed and flood plain, the estate has an abundance of rich resources and a diverse microclimate which enables us to produce an exceptional range of award-winning wines.
Early in the 1900’s Trifon Estate was also a horse stud and there are three Melbourne Cup winners resting in the area.
Single Vineyard
Single vineyard wines are made from grapes that have come from the one vineyard.
Trifon Estate consists of approximately 800 acres under vine of single estate grapes including 16 of the top market leading grape varieties planted.
As a family owned and operated vineyard, we are intimately involved with all aspects of grape production including the timing and technique of pruning which positively influences the onset of budburst and crop load. We also understand that lower yields mean more concentrated flavours and high-quality fruit.
At Trifon Estate we only bottle estate grown fruit to reflect the unique characteristics of the Goulburn Valley region as well as the individuality of our diverse single estate vineyard plantings. We believe that this philosophy ensures that we evoke a sense of place in every glass of wine.
Water Resource
Trifon Estate has three sources of pure water resource including:
- Underground artesian springs
- Goulburn River
- Rainfall
Having three sources of pure water provides us with an abundance of high-quality water resource all year round for our large single estate vineyard. This also provides more than enough water resource for the surrounding habitat to prosper in coexistence with our vineyard.
Terroir
The first vines were planted in the Goulburn Valley in 1860 and the region has continuously produced premium wines ever since. The first vines were planted at Trifon Estate in 1999 which are all premium European clones grafted on phylloxera resistant rootstock.
Trifon Estate sits on top of an ancient riverbed and flood plain where the predominant soil type is alluvial loam sitting atop a clay sub soil. In higher parts of the vineyard there are small peaks dense in limestone which also enhances our premium award-winning quality wines.
We have an abundance of clean underground spring water, 6km’s of Goulburn River frontage and numerous inland waterways that provide a cooling influence on the local environment which reduces diurnal temperature variation.
Trifon Estate enjoys a mild, Mediterranean type climate (123m AMSL) with cool, wet winters and warm dry summers. The warmest mean temperatures occur in January (max 29.6°c) and the coolest in July (min 3.2°c). Average annual rainfall is 463mm which includes 81.6 days of rainfall on average. With an abundance of water resource, the vineyard is virtually drought proof.
Habitat
Trifon Estate is one of the largest premium, family owned, single estate vineyards in Victoria and Australia. It is located on the Goulburn River with highway frontage facing east in a pristine environment and has a beautiful 20-acre lagoon. The property is extremely attractive with wide plains and pockets of native bush featuring 6km’s of river frontage on the western side.
The surrounding lakes, waterways, Goulburn River and our Lagoon attract a diverse and spectacular array of Australian native wildlife including platypus, kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, kookaburras, kingfishers, king parrots, currawongs, sulphur-crested cockatoos, galahs, rosellas, wattlebirds, honeyeaters, finches, robins, wrens, ducks, black swans, pelicans, owls, wedge-tailed eagles and more which are ever present in and around our vineyard.
Grapes Varieties
Trifon Estate consists of 1,450 acres planted to approximately 800 acres under vine. Having such a large vineyard allows us to grow 16 of the top market leading single estate grape varieties including:
Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Durif, Malbec Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Traminer and Marsanne.
From the above grape varieties, we produce an exceptional range which are selected and harvested to craft award-winning wines for the local and international markets.
All vines are premium European clones grafted on to phylloxera resistant rootstock.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world to produce all the major wine styles and at Trifon Estate the 16 different high-quality grape varieties we grow gives us the flexibility to produce a wide array of wines for customers and consumers.
Harvest & Crush
Harvest is the most important time of the vintage year. It represents the end of the grape growing cycle and the start of the winemaking process. It is a team effort for all our staff and the realisation of the hard work undertaken throughout the year. Our chief winemaker and vineyard manager collaborate closely to ensure the grapes are picked at optimal time to ensure the best balance between the grapes’ sugar, acid, tannin and colour. The exact timing of harvest is determined by the variety, wine style and weather conditions. Fortunately, the Goulburn Valley is blessed with favourable weather conditions throughout the growing season with warm days and cool nights.
We harvest our grapes in the cool hours of the night and in the mornings when the grapes are cool and firm, this ensures that the grapes arrive at the winery in pristine condition. Our state-of-the-art mechanical harvesters are fitted with roller sensors that selectively harvest only the ripe berries without the stalks discarding any leaves or plant material ready for crushing. The white grapes are crushed and gently pressed in pneumatic presses while the reds are crushed an put to stainless steel fermenters where they ferment on skins for 10-14 days.
Chief Winemaker
Glenn Eberbach joined Trifon Estate as Chief Winemaker in 2017, bringing over 20 years’ winemaking experience with him.
Glenn completed a Double Bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Winemaking at Charles Sturt University and worked in the Yarra Valley for three top ranking wineries.
To further his knowledge and expertise, he spent several years in Italy running a state of the art 5000 tonne winery and working in collaboration with a number of wineries under the banner of bottling giant MGM Mondo del Vino.
After working in Italy, he returned to Australia as a contract winemaker in the King Valley making wines for a diversity of wineries. He also spent time in Australia’s premier fortified region of Rutherglen making world-class Fortified wines.
Now at Trifon Estate, Glenn is fully devoted to producing exceptional memorable wines. The clean air, fertile soil, and abundant water supply of our single estate vineyard provides him with grapes of the highest quality. As testament to this winning combination, Trifon Estates ‘Lagoon View Winemakers Reserve’ was awarded the 2019 Australian Wine of Year at the London Women’s Wines Wine & Spirits Awards.
Winemaking
Trifon Estate wines are solely sourced and produced from our single estate grapes using modern and traditional winemaking methods using a combination of French and American Oak to produce high-quality wines offering exceptional value.
From growing pristine fruit and everything in between, through to supplying premium finished packaged wines, we have the resources and economies of scale to provide high-quality wines.
The vineyard is managed as organically as possible and wines are made with minimal intervention, reflecting a dedication to sustainable grape growing and wine production practices.
The philosophy of our Winemakers is to deliver single estate wines with character and integrity that enrich the senses capturing the unique characteristics and flavours of Trifon Estate and reflect the provenance of Goulburn Valley, Central Victoria.
All our wines are made our way, elegant enough to be enjoyed upon release, yet complex enough to cellar further rewarding with age.
Innovation
Our product development is driven by innovation including advanced agricultural methodology, different types of oak barrels, new blends, modern and traditional winemaking methods.
Simply our aim is to deliver wines which customers and consumers desire therefore we continually aim to only produce wines full of character including full flavoured and fruit driven.
Also, by collaborating with customers and consumers we share learnings from one another as partners. This enables us to consistently deliver higher-quality, innovative, packaging, brands, styles and award-winning wines.
Sustainability
Sustainability starts in the vineyard and surrounding bushland extending to harvest, winemaking, sourcing of materials, production, sales, marketing and waste. Our sustainable viticulture practices have been learnt through our management team with a combined 250+ years Australian and International wine industry experience.
Our vineyard and the Australian viticulture industry are well developed, innovative and utilise the latest and most sustainable production practises. Australia is ranked among the top 10 countries in terms of average grape yield (tonne per acre or hectare). Further industry research and development continues to generate best practises which will continue to improve our grape quality, production efficiency and ultimately our award-winning sustainable wines.
Environment
The quality of our grapes determines the quality of our wine more than any other factor. Today more than ever grape quality is affected by climate, location, soil, water, pruning, harvest, winemaking, bottling, storage, methods and processes. The combination of all these effects is referred to as the environment.
We understand we have a responsibility to the environment, and we are committed to using best practice techniques to ensure that we protect our soil, air, water and vines, while also conserving energy. This ethos allows us to continually improve the quality of our fruit, wines and customer service which in turn delivers higher quality wines for our customers and consumers.
Supply Chain
At Trifon Estate we proactively manage our supply chain from grape to glass to optimise and enhance our quality, consistency, size, scale, customer and consumer experience.
Our fully integrated supply chain includes:
- Vineyard, harvest & crush, winemaking, tank farm storage and barrel hall
- Materials sourcing, laboratory, onsite bottling and packaging
- Administration, sales, marketing and operations
- Temperature-controlled warehouse and cellaring
- Coordinating third party logistics and distribution.
All our equipment and processes are designed to respect the grape varieties we grow to deliver exceptional quality, award-winning, single estate wines from Goulburn Valley, Central Victoria.
Excellence
At Trifon Estate we strive to over deliver for our customers and consumers through consistency, safety, quality and value. This commitment is essential to our continued growth and success therefore we seek to maintain and improve standards of grape growing, winemaking, production, operations, warehousing, logistics, sales, marketing, customer service and people.
We also strive to maintain and improve standards by the most efficient means possible and we believe that our future lies in our hands in producing high-quality wines as well as satisfying our valued customers and consumers ongoing.
800+ Awards
Each year we enter the majority of our wines in multiple Australian, State, Regional and International Awards Shows including: Royal Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, Adelaide, Perth, Victorian Wine Show, Canberra National Wine Show, Great Australian Shiraz Challenge, China Wine and Spirits, Singapore, Japan, Asia International, London, America, Berlin and more.
We do this to seek independent industry opinion and ratings for our wines. Wines are tasted blind so that judges are not influenced by brands or labels and therefore award outcomes are ultimately judged on the wine itself.
Our award results give customers and consumers’ confidence in their decision making to purchase and consume our wines as well as a source of publicity and promotion in selling our wines.
Our track record to date at Australian & International Wine Shows speaks for itself as we have been awarded 16 x ‘Winery of the Years’, 8 x Trophies, 66 x Double Golds, 245 x Golds, 162 x Silvers and 263 x Bronze medals.
Export Markets
Trifon Estate exports our premium award-winning Australian owned brands and wines around the World including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, United Kingdom and United States.
We have established brands, as well as other brands in development which can be made available exclusively. We travel regularly to our international markets attending major trade shows to support our importers, distributors, off & on-premise trade partners with education, marketing, promotion and wine tastings. Our philosophy is to grow our brands through partnerships by ensuring that we understand exactly what our customers’ needs are.
With free trade agreements in place and favourable exchange rates, we seek new partners to expand our export markets; please feel free to contact us at sales@trifonestatewines.com.au
Export Services
As an experienced exporter of wines around the world, Trifon Estate has a dedicated export sales and operations team who provide expert customer service support. We arrange all paperwork, consolidation and logistics from our temperature-controlled warehouse to freight forwarder to port to international destination.
We understand the importance of export markets and we will find the best solution to maximise our clients experience whether it be an LCL or FCL shipment including pallet and slip sheet loads. Our export customer service support includes shipping under our export license or a customer’s export licence, Wine Australia permits, certificates of analysis, certificates of origin, free sale, health, etc.
Showroom
Trifon Estate has a Melbourne based Showroom for Trade and Export customers (not open to the public) which is conveniently located 20 minutes from Melbourne CBD in Mount Waverley, Victoria.
Trade and Export customers can visit our Showroom (by pre-arranged appointment) to discover the picturesque Trifon Estate, its heritage, scale, capability, market insights, new release and award-winning single estate wines from the Goulburn Valley, Central Victoria.
Sales Team
Our Domestic and Export Teams have a combined 150 years Sales and Industry experience including dedicated Sales resources for both our Domestic and International markets.
We welcome any new Domestic and Export enquiries to sales@trifonestatewines.com.au