Drayton's Family Wines jobs and careers

About Drayton's Family Wines

The Drayton’s are one of the Hunter Valley’s pioneering winemaking families and it is still proudly family owned and operated. It has been over one hundred and fifty years since the first Drayton trod on rich Hunter Valley soil. That Drayton was Joseph Drayton. who was born in 1825 in England. In 1853 he and son Frederick journeyed to Pokolbin where Joseph acquired 80 acres of land and Joseph built the “Bellevue” homestead. In the late 1850’s, Joseph turned from growing grain to plant his first vines in the rich virgin loam of “Bellevue”. Joseph married Mary Ann Chick and they had eight children. His son William bought land and planted his vines on the 40 acres adjoining his father’s land. In 1885 he married Susan Lambkin and they had ten children. It was William who eventually took over “Bellevue” from his father. In his sixties, William “retired” and split his assets among his 10 children - Harry, Walter, George, Leonard took over control of the Bellevue property. In 1947 the company, W. Drayton & Sons was formed. Eventually, the “Bellevue” property passed into the hands of the children of Harry, Walter, George and Len. The company was then run by Max, Bill, Reg, Jock and Ron (fourth generation descendants of Joseph). In early 1989, Max Drayton and three of his four sons (John, Trevor & Greg) purchased the company from other family members. However in 2008, another tragic chapter was added to the Drayton’s story. A winery fire and explosion resulted in the death of winemaker, Trevor Drayton and severe burning of his assistant William Rikard-Bell. The family enterprise is now in the hands of Max Drayton and his two sons John, and Greg. The Drayton family is very proud of its history over six generations and the part it has played in the development of the region that is now known as “Hunter Valley Wine Country”.