CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF CONTINUAL FAMILY WINEMAKING

175 YEARS

When nautical adventurer Frank Potts signed the deed to his 30-acre property on the banks of the Bremer River in 1850 he could not have imagined what his family’s tenure would contribute to Langhorne Creek and the Australian Wine Industry…

DISCOVERING LANGHORNE CREEK

Already with an amazing life story, Frank arrived in Adelaide on the HMS Buffalo in 1836. His journeys brought him through a place then called Langhorne’s Crossing.

Frank Potts liked building things – a home, a workshop, a winery, water pumps, floodgates, vats, a lever press and a dynasty. When he added more land to his original holding, the vineyard area expanded and so the winery, and the family, grew.

In 2025 we celebrate 175th anniversary of Frank Potts establishing Bleasdale and the incredible journey of his ancestors and all the incredible stories of a family, a community and the land that we are on. The stories of all the authentic and hardworking people that have contributed to make Bleasdale Wines what they are today.

THE REGION’S INNOVATOR

But Frank the Winemaker was still Frank The Builder and Innovator…

One of his greatest achievement, a part from building the magnificent red gum lever press, was the development of a system of floodgates which captured the annual silt-laden floodwaters of the Bremer River, diverting a metre of water across the entire vineyard. If it worked for the ancient Egyptians with the inundation of the Nile, surely it would work at Langhorne Creek. And it surely did with the entire region benefiting from his innivation as more people discovered the magic of the Langhorne Creek region and its fertile soil.

THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY

The first wine flowed, as over the ears, more and more acres were planted to varieties such as Chardonnay, Verdelho, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Shiraz and, of course, Malbec which has become the signature variety of the winery and the region. Malbec was the base for the very first table wine produced under the Bleasdale label.

Those wombats have a lot to answer for and its all good! Today, under the skilled guidance of the fifth generation of the Potts family, a talented winemaking and viticultural team fully acknowledge and embrace the magnificent legacy of the past and look forward to sharing an even brighter future with lovers of fine wine everywhere.

THE FRANK POTTS LEGEND LIVES ON IN EVERY
SINGLE BOTTLE.

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BLEASDALE VINEYARDS PTY. LTD.
1640 LANGHORNE CREEK ROAD
LANGHORNE CREEK SA 5255