The winery was founded by a syndicate of three British Army officers and named after one of its first owners – Lieutenant Colonel Richmond Houghton, who started producing wine early with its first commercial vintage – a modest 25 gallons, in 1859.
In 1880, Houghton received its first wine award, the ‘Order of Merit’ at the Great Melbourne Exhibition. This was the first of many triumphs that have paved the way for Houghton to become Western Australia’s most awarded winery.
Houghton has had just 13 winemakers in its rich history and under their custodianship has produced wines with a remarkable consistency of style.
In 1922, 16-year-old Jack Mann, under the guidance of his father, George, began his winemaking apprenticeship at Houghton. Jack was to become the driving force of Houghton for 51 consecutive vintages. He brought passion, creative genius and an influence that extended far beyond Houghton, to the whole West Australian and Australian wine industry.
Jack’s best-known creation was Houghton White Burgundy, now ‘Houghton White Classic’, first crafted with incredible foresight in 1937 and an Australian favourite to this day.
Houghton is now the tenth-largest red and white bottle brand in Australia, and sources fruit from every major premium grape-growing region in WA, including Gingin, Margaret River, Frankland River and Mount Barker in the Great Southern, and the emerging Pemberton region.
