Description
Olive Farm Wines is a 4th generation family owned & run winery, located in the heart of the Swan Valley. Our family took ownership of Olive Farm Wines in 1933 and have been making a diverse range of wines ever since, including methode' champenoise, white, red and fortified wines.
In 2007 we designed and built our dream winery in Millendon, which we relocated to from our original premisis in South Guildford. Continuing the family tradition of winemaking, father and son do everything from growing the grapes to making and bottling the wine.
We invite you to our award winning cellar door, where you can sample our extensive selection of wines. With over 35 wines on offer, we are confident you will find a favourite or two Olive Farm Wines.
You'll feel like you're part of the family when you visit Olive Farm winery, with a friendly, relaxed and personable atmosphere, perfect for enjoying our wonderful selection of Swan Valley wines.
Olive Farm Winery is the oldest established WA winery, established back in 1829 by an English botanist, named Thomas Waters. Mr Waters brought with him a number of plants, including grapevine cuttings and olive trees. He was granted a large portion of land in South Guildford, where once cleared, began to plant the olive trees, hence the name Olive Farm.
The vines were planted soon after, with wine being produced once the vines were bearing fruit. Mr Waters used the wine to barter with local shopkeepers in town for a range of goods. An underground cellar was dug out by Mr Waters, which still stands today and is used as a cellar sales outlet.
The Yurisich family took ownership of Olive Farm Wines, when my great grandfather, Ivan Yurisich bought the property. Ivan and his wife had immigrated to Australia around the turn of the century from Yugoslavia, with nothing but the clothes they wore. Ivan tried his luck in the goldfields before working on numerous wood lines in outback WA. In 1933 Ivan purchased Olive Farm and tried his luck at winemaking, using skills he had learnt in Yugoslavia by watching the locals.
The wines originally produced by Ivan were fortified wines that were sent out to the goldfields in small oak casks. Ivan’s son Vince took over the business in the early 1960’s and introduced a range of new winemaking techniques. Vince was one of the first winemakers in WA to produce a method champenoise ‘champagne.’ He was also one of the first to use cold fermentation techniques and selected yeast strain fermentations.
Bulk fortified wines were predominantly produced by Vince, before introducing bottled table wines in the mid 1970’s. Vince was very successful in the Perth and Swan Valley wine shows, picking up numerous awards for a range of his wines.