Our Story
Born in a ‘light bulb moment’ on a study tour to France’s Rhone Valley, Tim Smith Wines was established in 2001 with our first vintage in 2002.
Our establishment followed Tim's 20-plus year winemaking career working for some of the best Barossa Valley-based wine producers, as well as numerous overseas vintages in France, Portugal and New Zealand.
In the Barossa these producers included Yalumba, St Hallett, Charles Melton and Chateau Tanunda; in McLaren Vale, Tatachilla; in France, Chapoutier, Gabriel Meffre and Domaine du Mandeville; in Portugal Cortes de Cima and Azamor; and in New Zealand, Nautilus.
Today, TSW is still unashamedly heavily influenced by the wines of the Rhône Valley, but with a very healthy respect for our regional Barossa wine style.
We see no point in trying to reinvent the wheel when the wine styles and regionality we enjoy in the Barossa has been around for nearly 180 years - the region must be doing something right!
However, the wine geek in Tim can't help tinkering and responding to our different yearly vintage challenges.
When you visit our Vine Vale ‘shed door’, you won’t be met by a paid ‘host’ singing from the company hymn sheet. What you’ll get is the man himself - or one of the unpaid family ‘help’. If you’re looking for souvenir polo shirts, Insta-worthy backdrops, glasses laid out on a nice little mat - well, that's not quite our vibe.
If you want to talk pH and RS and all those technical terms, rest assured Tim can do that all day.
But for us, wine is a social lubricant made to be enjoyed. We want to demystify some of the wankery that pervades our industry and make wine fun, so if you want to taste good, honest wines that are made to be enjoyed with people you like, love or tolerate - we might be just what you’re looking for.