Lienert Vineyards
Barossa Valley , South Australia
Brands
Lienert Estate, Jack West, Sieben-Klon, Tierra del Puerco, PIQ, PINQ
Winery Overview
Lienert Vineyards is a partnership of two brothers who grew up on a Barossa farm and now work together growing grapes and making wine. One brother John focuses on growing the very best fruit in our vineyards, leaving James with the job of crafting delicious. If you were to distil our story into a few words, it would read….“ We grow it. We make it. We own it.” A proud statement of independence that captures the DNA of who we are, what we do, and what we stand for. Over twenty years we’ve transformed our family’s Barossa Valley farm into a vineyard wonderland, and in 2023 we ventured ‘up the hill’ to the Barossa’s high country, acquiring the highly regarded ‘Summers Vineyard’ in Eden Valley. In early 2025 Sustainable Wine Growing Australia certified both vineyards and the winery in recognition of many years work and an ongoing commitment to regenerative agriculture and making decisions every day in the best interests of the environment and our wines. Each of our labels is purposed with connecting the enjoyment of good wine with a great story of real people and a real place. Some have pigs on them, and some are named for elusive and enigmatic winemakers. Others immortalise our father’s exceptional sense of style in underwear, jackets and wallpaper. Others are simply born of the freedom of thought that comes from spending long hours sitting in tractors.
Seeking Distribution in
Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam
Winemaker Bio
Growing up in the Barossa surrounded by vineyards and wine, it didn’t take James Lienert long to join the dots between studying science, my favourite subject at school, and the potential for practical application by becoming a winemaker.
His first hands on role mirrored that of so many Barossa born kids graduating high school – working vintage at a local winery (Penfolds) and earning more money than he’d ever seen in my life. He subsequently invested his new found wealth ‘wisely’ by travelling the world and doing all the good things a young Australian should be doing at that age – he recalls beer being a consistent theme no matter where he found himself.
He returned to Australia, and to Penfolds for 6 more vintages. Further overseas vintages in New Zealand (Otago), USA (Sonoma) and Germany (Mosel) expanded my world wine view, and he completed his masters in Oenology in 2012. Equipped with a good mix of learned theory and hands on experience, he started his winemaking career at Two Hands which led to his current position as winemaker with the WD Wines Group.
Based in Barossa keeps him close to vineyards and affords the opportunity each vintage to make small parcels of wine for Lienert Vineyards from what his brother John and he reckon to be some of the best blocks on the estate.
His approach to winemaking is based on a desire to preserve the character of our estate expressed through wines that show purity of fruit, elegance, delicacy, with finely structured tannins and flavours. Working in partnership with John in the vineyard, his aim in the winery is to retain all the more delicate flavours through varying winemaking techniques and subtle use of oak.
‘Less is more’ is a simple mantra, but to us it captures how we believe we’re best able to unlock the amazing potential of the fruit we grow.” James Lienert