The Families

Four generations of the McGuigan family have made wine their life and some of Australia's greatest brands have been shaped by the McGuigan spirit, and their 80-plus years of winemaking.

Brian McGuigan, inspired by the winemaking heritage of both his father Perc and grandfather Owen, has been at the forefront of the Australian wine industry for more than 35 years.  One of it's most versatile and well-known figures, Brian utilises his skills as a winemaker, viticulturalist, marketer and communicator to take our wines all over the world.

One of the pioneers of wine export, Brian's wife Fay established McGuigan Wines with her husband and has been hailed as an ambassador for Australian wine in international markets.

Neil McGuigan is one of Australia's foremost viticulturalists and Brian's youngest brother. Neil brings over 27 years experience to his role as CEO for Australian Vintage and commands the upmost regard for his tremendous winemaking skills.

Lisa McGuigan is the fourth generation of this famous winemaking family - her creative, entrepreneurial and ambitous approach was the driving force behind the boutique wine brand, Tempus Two.

Miranda Wines dates back to 1938 when founder Francesco 'Frank' Miranda arrived in Griffith in regional NSW from Italy with the passion and desire to build a winemaking empire.

Frank made his first batch of wine crushing three tonnes of grapes, using the old fashioned stamping method. He produced approximately 3,000 gallons of wine in that first vintage - the beginnings of a business that would inspire three generations of his family to create quality Australian wines.

Miranda Wines continued to expand under the guidance of Frank’s sons, Sam, Jim, Lou and their families, employing over one hundred people and selling their wines nationally and overseas. In 1990, Sam’s daughter Sandra, was the first of the third generation to work in the family business.

Miranda Wines was bought by Australian Vintage (formerly McGuigan Simeon) in 2003 and the brand still flourishes today continuing the family's style of crafting a vast range of niche wines. 

James Tweddell and his father Ed founded Nepenthe in 1994, with the purchase of an apple orchard in the heart of Lenswood in the beautiful cool climate Adelaide Hills. Driven by a shared love of wine, both James and Ed devoted much time and passion to make the brand the success it is today.

James had a vision to produce great wines, founded on the principles of total quality through all the phases of both grape growing and winemaking. To achieve this goal he instigated the set-up of Nepenthe Viticulture to ensure all Nepenthe vineyards and a majority of the vines from contractors would be managed by Nepenthe.

Nepenthe was purchased by Australian Vintage (formerly McGuigan Simeon) in 2007 but the family principles established at the inception of Nepenthe are still fundamental to the success of the brand today.