About Us
About Four Winds Vineyard
We love the simple things; making great wine and wood-fired pizzas.
What started out as one couple’s dream to grow and sell grapes has evolved into an inter-generational family business. Today, Four Winds Vineyard proudly grows premium grapes, crafts boutique wines, and hosts a bustling cellar door on-site.
We invite you to come, sit amongst the vines, and enjoy our award-winning wines alongside our delicious wood-fired pizzas.
Award-Winning Cool-Climate Winery in the Canberra District
In 2019, our business expanded to include a new vineyard and winery; Kyeema Estate. As one of the area’s most distinguished vineyards, it is located within an easy, 20 minute tractor drive of Four Winds Vineyard.
Specifically, Kyeema Estate gives us access to exciting new varieties such as Tempranillo, Chardonnay and Viognier. Furthermore, it provides our winemaking team with exceptional quality fruit, including an old Penfolds clone of Shiraz and a reserve Merlot.
The Four Winds Vineyard Timeline & History
We are proud of the journey in the Murrumbateman wine region. Below are the key milestones that have shaped our estate over the decades:
1998 – Planting the Roots
We planted our vineyard and started to sell grapes under contract to BRL Hardy. During this time we also made a small amount of wine under our own Four Winds Vineyard label.
2006 – Scaling Production
When BRL Hardy moved out of the Canberra District we shifted ir focus. Consequently, we increased the volume of wine we were making under the Four Winds Vineyard label.
2010 – The Canberra Wine Collective
To increase the visibility of Canberra District wines in independent retailers, we established The Canberra Wine Collective. This initiative brought together five neighbouring wineries to collaborate on branded point-of-sale stands in over 20 retail stores.
2011 to 2013 – Building the Cellar Door
We received a federal government grant of $110,000 to build our dream cellar door, which we successfully completed in 2013. That same year, Four Winds Vineyard proudly received the Visitor Experience Award at the Canberra and Capital Region Tourism Awards.
2014 – Crowdfunding & Gold Medals
We ran a successful crowd funding campaign, raising $23,000 to extend the winery. In addition, our 2014 Riesling was awarded a gold medal and ranked as one of the top three Rieslings at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, scoring equal 96 points alongside industry icon Peter Lehmann Wines. We also secured our second consecutive Visitor Experience Award.
2015 – The Four Tonne Project
With a bumper crop in 2015, we teamed up with two neighbours and turned 4-tonnes of our spare Shiraz grapes into wine. Ultimately, this raised over $40,000 for refugees living in Canberra. This year also marked our third consecutive Visitor Experience Award.
2016 – Building the Chapel & New Designs
Using leftover timber and materials from an old wooden hay-shed we built out on-site chapel. Simultaneously, we worked with the amazing team at Denomination to redesign our wine labels. They went on to win three international design awards; gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards, Overall Supreme Champion at the Drinks International Wine Design Challenge and Supreme Champion at London’s 2017 Harpers Design Awards.
2017 – Leadership and Recognition
Our CEO, Sarah Collingwood, was selected for Wine Australia’s prestigious Future Leaders program. Futhermore, she was named the Australian Women in Wine Owner/Operator of the Year.
2018 – 20 Years of Wine
We crafted our very first Sparkling Riesling and celebrated 20 years of growing wine in Murrumbateman!
2019 – Business Excellence & Kyeema Estate
Four Winds Vineyard was named the Yass Valley Business Chamber Excellence in Business winner. This year was also the landmark year Kyeema Estate joined the Four Winds Vineyard Group, allowing us to release the first Kyeema wines under our label.
2020 to 2023 – Innovations & Major Trophies
2020: We teamed up with The Canberra Distillery and released a popular Riesling Gin.
2022: We crafted our first Sparkling Rosé and launched the “Quick Fix for Flooding” six-pack alongside five Murrumbateman Road neighbours to support local wine tourism during road repairs.
2023: Our 2022 Shiraz won Top Gold, Best Shiraz, and Best Table Red at the Australian Single Vintage Wine Show, where John Collingwood also won Best Viticulturist. Our 2022 Hard Graft Shiraz also secured the Dr Edgar Riek OAM Trophy for the Best Canberra District Shiraz at the Canberra & District Wine Show. In addition to this it was also awarded Gold medals at the 2023 NSW Small Winemaker’s Wine Show & by The Real Review.
2024 – The Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy
James Halliday’s Wine Companion named us a 5-star winery, and the Real Review ranked us as a Top Winery. Most notably, our 2023 Shiraz was awarded the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for Best Young Red Wine at the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards, alongside the Trevor Mast Trophy for Best Shiraz, The Douglas Seabrook Single Vineyard Trophy and Best New South Wales (incl. ACT) Shiraz trophy. Our owner and vineyard manager John Collingwood was also honoured with the Kym Ludvigsen Trophy for Viticultural Excellence.
2025 to 2026 – Sustainability & Ongoing Success
The Real Review again named us one of the Top Wineries of Australia in 2025, Following this, in 2026, we collaborated with Hyatt Regency Sydney and Australian food waste innovator Goterra to launch The Circular Vintage 2025 Shiraz, highlighting our commitment to sustainable winemaking practices.
The ‘Four Winds’ Story
The Four Winds Story began with a miner and his wife who lived on the property in a slab-hut. Her name was Scheherazade, after the story telling character in The Arabian Nights. Her favourite story described a magic carpet being borne by the four winds of good fortune. She named this small farm in Murrumbateman ‘Four Winds’ in the hope it would carry their good fortunes.
We are located to the north of Canberra just east of Murrumbateman, on the corner of Murrumbateman Road and Patemans Lane. We planted our thirty-three acre vineyard in 1998 and 1999 with five varieties; Shiraz, Riesling, Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese.
Plan Your Visit to the Canberra Wine Region
How to find us
Our cellar door is 35 km from Canberra city and a three-hour drive from Sydney.
Patemans Lane turns off Murrumbateman Road which runs between Murrumbateman and Gundaroo.
You can come and visit us and see what we are all about.
Alternatively; if a visit isn’t possible, sign up to our newsletter to get all the latest updates from the team. The newsletter will also tell you about our events; winemaker dinners, blending seminars, harvest festival etc.
We ship our wine Australia-wide and we are always ready to help. Email us at hello@fourwindsvineyard.com.au.