The O'Dwyer Family
Like many wine lovers, Judith and Donal’s journey to produce fine wines began with an epic wine tour of France.

Based in Paris in the first half of the 90s, they had great opportunities to explore the various regions of France and learned a great deal about the French love of the finer things in life, particularly their love of great wine and wonderful food.
During this time, one event above all, confirmed to them their desire to one day become actively involved in the making of memorable wine. Together with some great friends, they visited the “Great Irish Chateaux of Bordeaux”. Here they dined in the wonderful restaurants of the Medoc and stayed at the Chateaux Beychevelle. It was those visits to the many beautiful Chateaux including Lynch– Bages, Barton, Phelan Segur, Kirwan and Ducru–Beaucaillou that really motivated them to make their dream a reality.
Winemaking, they decided, would be similar to raising healthy and happy children – you would need a great deal of passion and patience and a very positive outlook to become a proud parent of fine products.
![]() Painting of Sweet Briar by Judith Visit Judith's website to see more of her work |
After eight years in France and Belgium appreciating the wines of France , Germany , Italy and Spain , the O’Dwyer clan moved to the USA . Here they developed a strong admiration for the great wines from the Napa and Sonoma regions.
It was with this privileged background and the opportunity to tread in a similar path to the famous Wine Geese of the 17th and 18th centuries, that the O’Dwyer family put down roots in the beautiful Clare Valley in South Australia. For Judith and Donal, their mutual ambition of one day owning their own vineyard, and more importantly making superb wines, had come to remarkable fruition.