Our Story
A Landscape of Contrasts
e'Stellar Estate brings together two celebrated vineyards and four decades of wine growing history into one estate.
Our site's shift in elevation is often abrupt, with creek flood plains giving way to steep, rocky hills.
Below the surface, the soils shift too, with our vines growing from fertile alluvial flats to shallow clay and fractured mudstone.
These shifts in soil and orientation mean no block is the same, and when we harvest, the blocks are kept separate throughout the winemaking process.
“Our purpose goes beyond wine. Caring for the land means revegetating areas of the property with native plants and nurturing biodiversity, ensuring the estate thrives for generations to come.”
Two Legacies, One Vision
The Henkell vineyard was planted in 1980, its custodianship later passing to Mandala Wines. Graeme Miller, a key figure in the Yarra Valley's second wave of wine growing, established the neighbouring Dixons Creek Estate in 1988.
For decades the two properties sat side by side, managed through different hands, producing some of the region's most regarded wines.
In 2025, the Casella family brought them together under a single name - e'Stellar Estate - with a vision to make small batches of wine that represent this unique site in the Yarra Valley.
The Hands Behind the Glass
Great wine starts in the vineyard and what we bottle needs to speak about the land and the season in which it was grown.
Fruit quality is key and our vineyard manager, Greg McRae, has eight years' experience working with our vines to draw from.
He's always checking the weather, steering the vineyard through the sometimes challenging Yarra Valley climate.
He works in tandem with winemaker Martin Siebert, whose philosophy is one of thoughtful restraint - constantly monitoring the wines and only intervening at a few critical moments to keep them on track so their expression stays true to the fruit.
Stewardship/ Farming for What Comes After
We are temporary custodians of this site. The old vines were here before us; the young ones we've planted will outlast us.
Alongside the viticulture, we're revegetating the estate with native flora and building back the biodiversity that keeps the ecosystem in balance. In the vineyard, we cover crop and mulch to keep the soil healthy and reduce inputs, and the winery runs largely on solar.
Good farming means remaining as minimally extractive from the land as possible, and it's the only approach that makes sense long term.
