Welcome to Three Dams Estate
Vineyard and Eco Retreat
Three Dams Estate is a small batch, boutique vineyard and winery specialising in sustainably produced Spanish wine varietals. Established in 2008 by Wendy Johnstone and Evan Pritchard, our vision was to create a peaceful off grid retreat to escape from the fast paced city life style and to re-connect to nature. The aim is to have a minimal impact lifestyle with a small carbon footprint. We produce a lot of our own food, generate our own power, harness the rainfall and reuse and utilise recycle materials wherever possible.
Having a special passion for all things Spanish, in 2015 we decided to plant a small Tempranillo vineyard and three years later, produced the first vintage. Another vineyard was established in 2019 with Monastrell and Grenache varieties, so completing the Spanish Trio!
We are currently working on an eco friendly accomodation project that will enable visitors to the region to stay at 3DE and experience hands on workshops in topics such as organic gardening and composting, bee keeping, and bread, cheese and wine making.
Our Cellar Door is open the first weekend of each month or by appointment and each September, we host the Long Lunch Launch to celebrate the new release wines.
Cellar Door Open first weekend of each month from 12-5 or other times by appointment.
Drop in and say hello!
Our story...
Situated just 1.5 hrs north of Melbourne, Heathcote has a rich history of gold mining and sheep farming dating back to the 1850's. Situated at an altitude of just over 300 metres, the property lies on 20 acres of undulating hills and rocky outcrops with expansive views to Mount Alexander in the West. We discovered the property in August, 2007 while visiting the region for the Heathcote Wine and Food Festival.
The house was rescued from demolition in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill and transported in two halves to the property in 2008. All the original Art Deco features remained intact and the house has gradually been completely renovated. We have also entirely retro fitted the property to be as energy efficient as possible by adding underfloor, wall and ceiling insulation, a roof air extraction system and external wall shading.
The off grid system has changed significantly since the original installation in 2008. Back in those days, a 120 watt solar panel would set you back almost $900! These days its possible to buy 1000 watts for $1000! The original 12volt gel 110 Ah battery back has recently been upgraded to a 24 volt system with 8 200Ah AGM batteries with a total capacity of 800 Ah (19.2kWh). The solar PV array has also gone from the original 360 watts to 1.8 kWts and can happily run our fridge, washing machine and even a split system A/C unit.
