Family owned and operated since its’ inception, the second generation is now operating and continuing to evolve the business. Following vast international experience in NZ and Europe since 2004, daughter Belinda’s role encompasses all things Viticultural and Winemaking, having taken over from her father in 2014. Younger daughter Fiona is at the helm of Marketing and Sales after more than a decade working in the business.

Crawford Wines received many awards in Real Review for Wineries with Gold, Silver and broze with their wines.

And the Thompson's always belived

"Our endeavour to make the best possible wines both now and into the future, means sustaining the soils from which those wines come. This is fundamental to our whole operation. As custodians of the land, our farming approach is biological in nature, with a view to being organically certified in the near future. As a family owned and operated business, we look to sustain, regenerate and improve the land for future generations."

With a view to sustainability and our passion for natural systems, we manage the vineyard without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or fungicides.  In 2008, we ceased the use of under-vine herbicide, purchasing an under-vine slasher to control unruly summer grass.  The application of organic compost and mulching of our pruning canes helps maintain our soil health, carbon levels and biodiversity.  We graze sheep in the vineyard after vintage and pruning, avoiding the need for additional tractor passes, while naturally fertilizing our soils! 

All major activities including picking, pruning and canopy management are done by hand. 

We run a VSP trellis system with arched canes, to ensure maximum light and air penetration into the canopy. This assists with the aim of always picking our fruit with optimum phenological ripeness. The even nature of the long season also helps achieve this goal.

Presiding over gently undulating grazing lands with sprawling forests in the distance, Crawford River paved the way for the area, in what is still a relatively unexplored wine growing region and indeed, remains merely a blot on the wine canvas.  It is now known as the GI of Henty. Since the initial plantings in the mid 1970s, there have been a number of new planting additions on our site. While 1994 and 2001 saw extensions to our original plantings, we are now in a phase of replanting, to ensure the longevity and future resilience of our special site.