Story
My vision is to create wines with tension and elegance. By crafting small batches, I maintain a focus on the highest quality, both in the grapes selected for harvest, and the wines that result.
Young Tree Wines gives me the freedom to express myself through nature, art and science. It is a pleasure to offer these wines for you to enjoy.
Cheers,
Leigh Ritchie
In 2007, an overseas adventure led me to the world of Winemaking.
After fruitlessly chasing a dream to work as a safari guide in East Africa,
I found myself in Tanzania, out of money and searching for options. The opportunity came to go and work the wine vintage in the Golan Heights of Israel, a week later, I was in the north of the country cramming winemaking books and soaking up as much knowledge as I could. The experience opened my eyes to an industry where I could balance science with creativity, hard work and passion and all resulted in a product that you held in your hand, made for others to enjoy. For me this was the beginning of it all.
I worked two more harvests before heading to Adelaide to complete my Masters Degree in Oenology. I spent the years 2011-2014 ‘vintage hopping’ jumping between Southern and Northern Hemisphere vintages, gaining vineyard and winery experience in different regions throughout South Australia, NSW, Victoria and California. My time in California focussed on premium boutique estates, predominantly in the Napa Valley. This led to me spending over 6 years working in the States with and alongside some of the most prestigious vineyards, wineries and winemakers. These years had the most significant impact on my overall approach to the craft; focussing on high quality, developing an inquisitive outlook and adopting the approach that you’ve never made your best wine.
I returned to Australia for the 2019 harvest and have since worked with some of Australia’s most established wineries including; Brokenwood, Best’s Great Western, Stanton & Killeen and Mitchelton.
The concept of Young Tree Wines has been ruminating since 2012, it wasn’t until 2022 that the opportunity finally presented itself for me to begin.
Young Tree allows me the freedom to express my individual approach to winemaking, to strive to achieve the best wines I can craft and offer them to the world.
I am at the beginning of this adventure, it is an exciting stage. I am learning about each vineyard site and the fruit that they produce. I am honing my practices and approach to each product and fine tuning to suit the specific conditions of the vintage. My approach will continue to evolve into the future, the learning never ends.
The seed has been planted and now set it’s roots as it begins to grow into the Young Tree.
