GENERATIONS IN WINE
Kies to the future
WORDS & PHOTOgRAPHY Alicia Lüdi-Schutz
“Location, location, location.” That’s the key message spruiked by any good real estate agent.
So it’s little wonder Michael Kies, who was in the business of selling property for 25 years, saw the potential in the old stone building located on property he inherited at Barossa Valley Way at Lyndoch.
That small former chaff mill and its 20 acres of vineyard, heralded the beginning of what was to become a thriving family-owned business, enjoyed by more than 1,000 visitors most weeks of the year.
Kies Family Wines, Cellar Door and Monkey Nut Café is a celebration of family and its generations, past, present and future.
Walking in from the surrounding vineyards, now totalling 55 hectares, Michael sits at one of the tables in the café. He introduces Tina, his wife of more than 40 years, whom he met at the Lyndoch Cricket Club where his brother was having his buck’s show.
“It’s okay, I didn’t jump out of a cake or anything like that!” giggles Tina.
Sharing loving glances and plenty of laughter, it’s clear they share a strong partnership, having ridden every high and low together.
“He’s a gentleman and a hard worker. In fact, he used to be a workaholic,” Tina says of her husband.
“He had leukaemia about 15 years ago and finally had an epiphany. He realised there was more to life than just working yourself to the bone.
“We have a great time together, a really good life. He’s just a really, lovely guy.”
Michael beams.
“She’s my gorgeous girl…..One in a million and a real trailblazer in everything she does.”
They are joined by eldest son, Bronson, who took on the role of winemaker in 2020, and marketing manager daughter, Jesseca, who came home to the family business in 2019.
A well-worn album, which includes a photo of the baptismal record they found in Germany of Michael’s great-great-grandfather, Christian Kies, is brought to the table and the four reflect on how he settled on property which has remained in the Kies family tree since 1855.
“We ended up on the Hoffnungsthal property or ‘Karrawirra’ – the Aboriginal name which means valley of big gum trees. Then in 1969 my grandfather, Norman, started a winery on that property,” explains Michael.
Michael’s father, Ken was continuing the winemaking tradition when Michael and Tina officially opened the Cellar Door on Barossa Valley Way in 1985.
It was a day Tina will never forget.
“I was pregnant with Bronson and we only had that little tiny cottage with no air-conditioning. It was 40 degrees and it didn’t even have a verandah on it!” she says.
The launch of the Deer Stalker Merlot in 2003 was when the idea for the Monkey Nut Café – named after another of their famed merlots – came about.
“Merlot was a bit of an underdog at the time…..anyone who came in that day could have a venison sausage if they wanted to, and drink the Deer Stalker,” explains Tina.
“We ended up with heaps and heaps of people having a great time and I said to Michael, I think we need to build on. You have a few drinks one day and next minute, look what happened!”
Bronson still remembers his grandfather running the Cellar Door in those early days, well before the restaurant was added.
“I was in that building before I was even born,” he laughs. “Eating mettwurst and tasting wine with grandpa when I was about five is my first memory.
“I was brought up around the wine industry but I was a bit of a late bloomer to winemaking. I’m dyslexic, so I struggled through high school and didn’t think I would pass a winemaking degree. But I matured, and in 2014 when I was about 26 to 27 I enrolled in viticulture and oenology and really gave it a good crack. I finished in 2019, graduated and started making wine here.”
Bronson designed the new winery built next door to the Cellar Door and Monkey Nut Café that same year as the business took on another major growth spurt.
“Functionality and safety were a big aspect, but also marketing. All the tanks are around the outside so we can have functions and host events.”
When asked to describe his winemaking style, Bronson’s answer centres on keeping it simple.
“Making classically sound wines with no faults at a good price,” he says.
Michael adds, “The beauty is that now, when people say where do you make your wine, we can say come and have a look.”
Jesseca gets emotional when she describes what brought her to the business after working in London, studying a media degree and honing her marketing skills at a major Queensland tourism attraction.
“I think it was Gourmet Weekend,” she explains. “The place was packed; I was like, ‘oh my gosh!’ It was just Mum and she was struggling. There were two staff…you couldn’t get in! I thought I have to come back and help, so I resigned from my job and moved back home.
“This café Mum thought was too big is maybe too small now…. The other week, there were 230 people for lunch between 11.30am and 3.30pm and that was just a random Saturday!”
All four bring something different to the family business, and that’s what they say is exciting about working together.
“Mum and Bronson are the wildcats. They think differently, are entrepreneurial and have the crazy ideas,” laughs Jesseca.
“Dad and I are a bit more grounded…I think there’s like a mutual respect. You need to be able to say that’s an awesome idea, you do your thing, I’ll do mine and it just works.”
Bronson agrees, “We’ve got the support of each other, and I think the reason it is successful is because we don’t spread ourselves too thin.”
Many moments make the family proud. From being awarded SA’s best small family business in 2020, to seeing the seventh generation, Bronson’s two-year-old son Shepard, wanting to get out on the tractor at “Daddy’s work” every single day.
“I’ve called that the Legacy Block because I want that as a legacy for the kids and grandkids, everything I do on that block now, I’m thinking about generations to come….it’s going to be there for a long time.”
- Michael Kies
But for Michael, working with Tina, seeing their children join the business and watching them excel in their roles is “absolutely fantastic”.
“It gives us something to really work towards. I mean, it would be difficult at our age to be looking at the next 30 years with no succession plan,” he says.
The 29 hectares of land purchased from the Schild family next door in 2019, forms part of what Michael sees as the key to a bright future.
“I’ve called that the Legacy Block because I want that as a legacy for the kids and grandkids,” Michael says. “Everything I do on that block now, I’m thinking about generations to come….it’s going to be there for a long time.”
Michael reckons it’s “time to expand again” and with all the development occurring in the southern Barossa area, he sees no reason why they shouldn’t.
“Believe in yourself…..Get on with it and just do it,” is Michael’s mantra.
And if history has taught the Barossa anything, it is that the Kies can. Especially after a Merlot or two.
