Combining modern knowledge and traditional methods, Anderson Winery is highly regarded in the Rutherglen region. Though one of the smaller wineries in Rutherglen, Anderson Winery boasts a large range of sought-after wines. Howard Anderson has spent his entire working life in the wine industry and was a senior winemaker at Seppelt Great Western for fourteen years. As winemaker and general manager of Rutherglen’s Jolimont Wines, Howard made the first sparkling white and red wines in North-East Victoria in 1986 before moving on to open Anderson Winery.

In 1991, Howard purchased twenty-four hectares of land on Chiltern Road, Rutherglen, before opening the cellar door of Anderson Winery in 1993. In 2023, the Anderson family celebrate their thirtieth year on the vineyard, with Howard and his eldest daughter Christobelle making a formidable father-and-daughter winemaking team. With small-batch wine made on-site, the winery and vineyard was certified sustainable by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia in time for the 2024 vintage.

Anderson Winery specialises in traditionally-made sparkling wines, and 2021 marked fifty years of Howard making the variety. Howard and Christobelle’s other passion is full-flavoured yet smooth reds using Rutherglen regional favourites, shiraz and durif, as well as less common varieties such as tempranillo, petit verdot and saperavi. The winery’s low-yielding, unirrigated vineyard, and the use of hand-picking and gentle basket-pressing, helps to achieve great fruit intensity and richness.

Over the years, the winery has won a multitude of awards. Most recently, three trophies for it’s 2022 Cellar Block Durif at the 2024 Rutherglen Wine Show – ‘Best red wine made from grapes grown in Rutherglen’, ‘Best red wine made from grapes grown in north east Victoria’ and ‘Best Durif’. The winery also won five gold medals in 2024 for various red wines at the Australian Small Winemakers Show, the Victorian Wine Show, the North East Victorian Wine Challenge and the Australian Single Vineyard wine show.

A visit to the Anderson Winery cellar door ensures that you enter a working winery where visitors can smell the yeast and see the winemaking equipment for making sparkling wine, and the barrels that hold the current vintage. Visitors to the small, hands-on winery will be greeted by someone directly involved in the winemaking process, providing a friendly and personal experience.