For most people, hearing the words 'the Pyrenees' makes their eyes glaze over and look distantly off to the left as they imagine the wonderful joys of Southern France, where it meets the Spanish border. Respond with the statement 'No, I meant the Pyrenees region of Victoria..' and their eyes revert back to the present moment and a quizzical look appears on their faces.. 'There's a Pyrenees in Australia?!' Yes, there most certainly is.
Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, Scottish surveyor and explorer first came upon this land in the year 1836. He was the first European on record to have travelled through this part of Victoria finding it more temperate in climate and better watered than NSW. This section of the Great Dividing Range reminded him of the Pyrenees in France, where he had previously served in battle.
The first vineyards were planted here by the Mackareth family in 1848. The winery was said to be quite substantial, however around the end of the First World War, two brothers