Mallee Estate Wines

Peter and Eleni Markeas migrated to Australia in the early 1960s. In '68 they purchased their first mixed fruit block in Renmark and were looking at retirement in '94, a time when many family blocks were for sale. Their son Arthur, who was living in Adelaide at the time, encouraged Peter to take the opposite course and purchase the neighbour's 8ha block giving room for expansion and specialisation. The crux of the deal was that youngest son Jim, then in year 11 at high school, should abandon his career aspirations as a cabinetmaker and instead enrol into the wine science degree at CSU. The plan was realised and production grew, but then drought and oversupply issues led them to investigate the US market. In the wake of the GFC, they abandoned the US and went instead to China, where their wines proved popular at their price. Today Mallee Estate is successful in the US market and has also seen the Chinese market grow substantially; the sales in Australia of negligible importance. Exports to the US and China. -JAMES HALLIDAY