About us...
Exactly one hour north of Melbourne, Lyons Will Estate was established in 1996 with its first plants being the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals. Since then the estate has grown in size to include Gamay and Riesling, making the total area under vine just over 10 acres.
Our ethos is simple, take care of the land and the land will take care of our plants. We believe the more time that can be spent in manicuring our plants the better our produce. Good grapes coupled with a minimalist wine making approach generally results in a good honest wine with a great acid balance and a clean linear finish.
One of the core aims for the owners and proprietors, Oliver Rapson and Renata Morello is to bring as much science and modern viticultural practices to the vineyard as possible. The end game hopefully resulting in less work in wine making ending with a drop that sing true to the ground and attention that is given. Obviously the end result being one of the winery’s in Australia that is on your Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay or Reisling trail.
We understand that the wine trade is a competitive environment and in order to meet the market we need to expand our knowledge, embrace change and if possible become thought leaders.
Lyons Will are very involved in research trials with the AWRI and are avid members of the Macedon Ranges Vignerons Society.
Click below for a small video on us.
What is behind Lyons Will, the name..
Its fair to say that for both Renata and I, our grandparents proved to be extremely influential people. Not only did they leave an indelible mark on our lives through the way they went about their day to day lives but more importantly how much passion they showed to their careers.
Ross Lyons was originally born in Mallala, South Australia (01.06.1920) and grew up a farm hand, his passion for livestock and farming never waned and it was this passion that drove him to create Coonara, a 1000 hectare sheep farm in the western districts of Victoria. To this day, his son (John) and grandson (Kym) still run this family farm which has expanded to cover much more than sheep and is a true testament to a diversified agribusiness. Renata was close to Ross for many reasons, it was the time spent with Ross that inspired Renata's passion for all things country, so when presented the opportunity to create a small agricultural business in a setting as stunning as Lancefield the idea proved too much to pass up.
Helen Rapson (maiden name Willis – Oliver's grandma), a PHD in Botany, she has endured the hardship of the war coming out the other side with a razor sharp commitment to her career for years to follow. Her ground breaking work in the field of Tomato diseases in the late 50's proved to be a corner stone for disease prevention in that industry for some time. However it was her overall interest in general botanical science that interested me. She inspired me to be interested in botany but nothing really tickled my fancy until I discovered wine. The complicated science of viticulture, couple this with wine making, and the many, many, moving parts that encompass the wine making process from start to finish provide me with a challenge too great to pass up, and provided a way to appease the obsessive compulsive in me.
Although we do not come from a long established bloodline of wine makers what inspired us was the risks and dedication it takes to run a country business, the hard work and passion it requires for a successful outcome but most importantly the many, many rewards country living can provide. From the satifcation of growing a great bunch of chardonnay, to sitting back and taking in the glorious sunsets, the real driver for us is the enjoyment we get from the unique beauty our environment provides for us, a beauty which we can share with our own young family today and the years to come.
We hope we can somehow encapsulate a little bit of this place in every bottle, and if so, then I think we have done Lyons Will and our grandparents legacy justice.