Charles Whish - Winemaker Profile

Charles Whish formed an interest in wine at an early age as his father developed a vineyard in northern New South Wales during the late 1960s and 1970s.

His interest in wine led him to undertake an Oenology degree at Roseworthy College in South Australia, which he completed in 1984. During this period he gained extensive first hand practical skills working at McWilliams Wines and Tisdall Wines for three vintages.

In 1985 he headed for vintage in the Napa Valley in California and then onto France for vintage in Bordeaux. From there he travelled through all the major wine regions of France and Italy. He repeated this French exercise again in 1987 and this time included a trip to the winemaking regions of Spain. In late 1988 he did the same in the East Coast wine regions of the USA.

Charles Whish joined Rosemount Estate in 1986 to work with Rosemount Estate’s then Chief Winemaker, Philip Shaw.

That year he was involved with Rosemount Esate’s technical assistance in the development of the Handong Winery in North Eastern China, an involvement that continued for three Chinese vintage periods until the end of 1988. Over this period he divided his time between China and the Upper Hunter Valley, returning to Australia for approximately seven months for the vintage seasons while spending the remaining five months in China.

Now based in McLaren Vale, Charles Whish manages all aspects of production of Rosemount Estate’s wine coming in from the ever-growing South Australian vineyard regions of McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Coonawarra and Adelaide Hills.

At the 2002 Royal Melbourne Wine Show Charles was awarded the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for his 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot blend from McLaren Vale. The wine, which was exhibited by Hill of Gold Vineyard will be released in November 2003 under the 'Traditional' label.

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