The evolution of Longview Vineyard

When the Saturno family bought Longview back in 2007, it was the definition of a “fruit salad” vineyard. “There was zinfandel, semillon, viognier, merlot…,” says CEO Peter Saturno. The Adelaide Hills site was established by South Australian entrepreneur Duncan MacGillivray in 1995, who “just threw everything at it, I think”.

Growing up in a hospitality family (the Saturnos owned several pubs across Adelaide), and working as a “grunter” (or shelf-stacker) in bottle shops as a teenager, introduced Peter to the world of wine and liquor. After studying both winemaking and wine marketing at uni, he moved to New York and worked for importer and merchant Frederick Wildman, developing a fanatic interest in Italian varieties, particularly nebbiolo.

Longview Vineyard CEO Peter Saturno.

That Longview was also home to some of the oldest nebbiolo plantings in Australia – and that, with Peter’s parents living next door to the vineyard, the family had "seen its potential up close” – made buying the estate a no-brainer. 

Peter admits nebbiolo was a struggle in the Australian market for at least the first 10 or even 15 years (“It was a battle… people did not take to it whatsoever.”), but today, it’s one of Longview’s flagships and is even made into sparkling. The vineyard has also become an important source of contract fruit for other nebbiolo makers across the region. 

The cellar door and restaurant at Longview Vineyard.

It’s also no longer an outlier; 20-odd years of experimentation and extensive soil studies, as well as the family’s personal preferences, has refined Longview’s focus to 10 varieties, several of which are also Northern Italian, including barbera and pinot grigio. Arguably grüner veltliner too, which, although associated with Austria, is planted widely in Alto Adige. Chardonnay, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, riesling and pinot noir make up the rest.

Ten varieties sounds like a lot to ‘focus’ on, but the diverse topography, aspects and soil profiles within the Macclesfield property make it possible. “Everything is strategically planted,” Peter says. “There are both northern-facing slopes and southern-facing slopes, and we get these cooling breezes because of our proximity to the Southern Ocean and the Gulf, which is wonderful for our diurnal range… We can successfully execute multiple varieties within that one site, which is not a common thing in Australian viticulture.”

Chris Mein, Paul Hotker and Peter Saturno.

Beyond turning the estate into a tourism destination – renovating the cellar door and adding a restaurant, accommodation and even a day spa – another key step in Longview’s evolution has been the appointments of viticulturist Chris Mein, who moved across from Shaw + Smith in 2020, and celebrated winemaker Paul Hotker. Paul began consulting to Longview in the late 2010s, but came on board officially as head of winemaking in mid-2024 after retiring from Bleasdale.

“We've seen huge improvement in the wines in the last five years,” says Peter. “Paul is really hot on an early-pick style, picking when the fruit is right, and Chris is absolutely hot on both regenerative viticulture and the Simonit&Sirch pruning method, and our vineyards have never looked better.

“One thing we get told about all our wines is how varietal they are; they taste the way the variety should," he adds. "That’s a real hallmark for us and it’s what we strive for.” 

Explore a selection of Mike Bennie's tasting notes below, and visit the Longview Vineyard website to learn more.

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