ABOUT BURNT ACRE
Cool mornings. Warm afternoons.
Wines worth savouring.
Winner of People’s Choice Award
Bendigo Best Shiraz 2017
Free Delivery for Dozen+ Orders in Victoria
For All Wine Club Members
From vines planted in 1972 to small-batch releases today, Burnt Acre is built on heritage, passion, and patience.
Our Story
When Cliff drove into the cellar door at Passing Clouds in February 1987, it turned out to be a life-changing decision. What began as a slow-forming idea during a year in Europe — inspired by red wines and the romance of vineyard life — quickly took shape. At the tasting room he met Graeme Leith, and the two formed an instant friendship.
Graeme invited Cliff to join the upcoming harvest. A weekend of picking, crushing, pressing and tasting soon grew into winter weekends spent pruning, racking, blending, and completing short winemaking courses at Box Hill TAFE and Burnley.
In 1989, a chance conversation with a farmer supplying grapes to Passing Clouds led to the purchase of a paddock in Marong, planted in 1972 with Shiraz vines. Around the same time, Cliff was offered a job at Passing Clouds. He packed up his Melbourne life and moved to the bush, eager to learn the craft of winemaking and grape growing.
After four vintages, Cliff moved onto the Marong property, soon joined by Maureen O’Connor — a New Zealander with a love of food, wine, travel and a sense of fun.
A grassfire in 1991 gave the vineyard its name: Burnt Acre.
The first release, a 1992 Shiraz, was launched in 1994 and awarded a Bronze Medal at the Victorian Wine Show. More than 30 years on, Cliff and Maureen have raised two children here and built a lifestyle shaped by the seasons — pruning in winter, harvest in autumn, and a passion for producing wines of structure, character, and longevity.
Our Wines
At the heart of Burnt Acre are Shiraz vines planted in 1972, now more than 50 years old. These vines form the backbone of our wines — small-batch, expressive, and made with a focus on flavour, structure, and a lingering finish.
Our winemaking philosophy is hands-on, influenced by the early years at Passing Clouds. We use open-top fermenters, hand plunging, gentle basket pressing, and long maturation in quality French and American oak.
These traditional methods demand patience and labour but reward us with wines that are elegant, complex, and enduring.
Our style is anchored in our flagship Shiraz and The Embers Blend — a classic Shiraz/Cabernet of balance and depth. Alongside them, we continue to explore evolving blends that express our terroir, capture the uniqueness of each season, and reflect the passion that drives our craft..
Always Learning
Over the last 15 years, we’ve travelled to wine regions across Australia, California, and Europe to deepen our knowledge and refine our practice.
This pursuit of learning keeps our winemaking alive, evolving, and always focused on one simple desire: to make wines worth savouring and sharing.
More Than Wine
At Burnt Acre, wine is more than a bottle — it’s a way of connecting.
It’s about sharing a story, a meal, and a moment. Our aim has always been to create wines that people love to drink, collect, and share. Wines that feel at home in a cellar, yet even better around the table.
From early beginnings to today, Burnt Acre has grown into one of Bendigo’s most regarded boutique producers.
With wines served at regional restaurants, stocked in select cellars, and cherished by club members, our ambition is simple: to continue crafting small-batch wines of grace, power, and a lingering finish — wines that reflect the soul of Bendigo.