CRFT Wines

Life and business partners NZ-born Frewin Ries and Barossa-born Candice Helbig crammed multiple wine lives into a relatively short period before giving up secure jobs and establishing CRFT in time for their inaugural 2013 vintage. Frewin started with four years at Cloudy Bay before heading to St Emilion, then to the iconic pinot noir maker in Sonoma, Williams Selyem, then four years with Kingston Estate, and subsequent time as a contract winemaker. Candice is a sixth-generation Barossan, trained as a laboratory technician. She spent eight years with Hardys, gaining her degree in oenology and viticulture from CSU, then moved to Boar's Rock and Mollydooker in '11. They say growth will come from additional single vineyards rather than by increasing the size of the make of any particular wine. They share the Lenswood winery (the original Nepenthe winery) with other kindred spirits. A shed-cum-cellar door is in the planning stage, as is the possibility of planting some gruner veltliner. Exports to the UK and Singapore.