Balderstone farm
Robert and Ann Balderstone purchased the land now known as Coriole. It was part of the “Hundred of Willunga” land release, and Balderstone paid 1 pound, 6 shillings and 2 pence per acre for his 157 acres.
Coriole Vineyards
(PO Box 9)
79 Chaffeys Road
McLaren Vale SA 5171
Our cellar door is open seven days from 11am to 5pm.
Robert and Ann Balderstone purchased the land now known as Coriole. It was part of the “Hundred of Willunga” land release, and Balderstone paid 1 pound, 6 shillings and 2 pence per acre for his 157 acres.
Robert Balderstone and his wife Ann named the property “Clark Hill”, and farmed the land. They produced wheat and ran livestock, and Ann established a dairy and kept poultry. Vineyards may have been planted in 1848, soon after purchase. In 1864, Balderstone imported a still, evidence of vineyard operations on Clark Hill Farm.
"About half a mile north of Mrs. Graham's is the farm of Mr. Balderstone ... There are about five acres planted with the red varieties cultivated in the district, and the wine possesses the usual characteristics. Like that of the other vineyards, it has generally been sold for consumption in its first or second year."
South Australian Register, 30 July 1875
Property is owned by Robert Robertson in 1882
Balderstons still living on property
Leased to Benjamin Hart Manning in 1886
Leased to John Carlyle in 1890
1889: Property is owned by Margaret Robertson, David Davidson and Alexander Johnston
Geoffrey Kay, manager of Hope Vineyards, leased the farm in 1918. He sold grapes from the vineyards planted here to Kay Brothers winery, with these purchases recorded in the Kay diaries.
In 1962, 'Clark Hill' was sold to John Snell, who established Australia's first biodynamic winery, Chateau Bonne Santé, and built a small winery building which forms the basis of the existing Coriole winery.
In 1967, Dr Hugh Lloyd and Mary Kathleen “Molly” Lloyd in partnership with D.H. & M. Collett purchased the property and renamed it 'Coriole Vineyards'. Hugh and Molly acquired sole ownership in 1969. They employed winemaker Graham Stevens and won the gold medal for 1970 Shiraz at the Adelaide Wine Show.
The McLaren Vale wine community celebrates the culmination of the McLaren Vale Wine Show through the Bushing tradition. In 1974 Coriole won ‘Best Wine of Show’ with the 1974 Coriole Shiraz and Hugh and Molly Lloyd were crowned Bushing King and Queen. Coriole won again in 1975 with the 1975 Festival Shiraz, but the monarchs crowned were Coriole winemaker Graham Stevens and his wife Marie.
In 1979 Mark Lloyd was appointed General Manager of Coriole. He was living in the UK and returned to Australia with his wife Anne where they moved into the “Top House” at Coriole and lived there with their family.
Mark Lloyd planted sangiovese at Coriole in 1985 - around the same time as another winery in Mudgee. That other vineyard has since been removed, making Coriole’s sangiovese vineyard the oldest in Australia.
Fiano was planted at Coriole in 2001, and was the first Australian planting. Fiano originates from the Campania region in southern Italy, and has found a new home here in McLaren Vale. In fact, there are now three categories for white wines at the McLaren Vale Wine Show: Best Traditional White Wine, Best New and Emerging White Wine, and Best Fiano.
Coriole Vineyards general manager Mark Lloyd bought a new variety of wine to Australia – it started as six sticks, wrapped in wet newspaper in a post pack, sent free of charge from a plant nursery in France. It took seven years to get from that point to releasing the first Australian vintage of Piquepoul – a white wine grown primarily in the Rhone Valley and Languedoc regions of southwest France.
Coriole is now a third-generation family business, managed Peter and Duncan Lloyd. Peter joined the business as Sales and Marketing Manager in 2014, and took over the General Manager role from his father Mark in 2020. Senior winemaker Duncan worked in winemaking around the world before returning to Coriole in 2017.
