In 1998, Joseph DeMaria, having no previous winemaking experience, made his first Winter harvest wine from a 5000L surplus of Vidal Winter harvest wine juice. Midway through the process, Joseph made a major error in what he understood to be the process of making Winter harvest wine. Without letting this error set him back, Joseph continued working with the Winter harvest wine and through his blind correction of the error, fell upon a wine making technique. The 1998 Vidal Winter harvest wine had all the varietal characteristics of a fine wine, the traditional sweetness of a Winter harvest wine yet did not have the rich, cloying texture within the finish. This first Winter harvest wine went on to win 5 international awards and the ‘error’ has become the wine making technique that self-taught winemaker Joseph DeMaria has used successfully ever since.

Since the first vintage in 1998, world renowned winemaker Joseph DeMaria has left his mark internationally as being the only winemaker to specialize exclusively in the production of Winter harvest wine. To date he has produced 24 varietals of Winter harvest wine, both red and white, including the world’s first: Royal DeMaria 2002 Meritage Winter harvest wine, and the world’s most expensive Winter harvest wine: Royal DeMaria 2000 Chardonnay Winter harvest wine retailing at $250,000/bottle.