Our Family
Winsome & Snow
3 generations celebrate Toby's marriage.
Marion, Winsome & Olive
Vines
Rotherleae Homestead
Glen Falloch
Our Story
In 1996 Winsome McCaughey and Snow Barlow established Seven Sisters Vineyard Pty Ltd.
Planting upon Winsome's ancestral land, we combined a passion for wine and horticultural expertise to develop a project that could include the whole extended family. Initially producing quality grapes under contract for larger vineyards, it soon became apparent that we were producing superior fruit, which encouraged us to launch the Baddaginnie Run label.
Several years later, long term friends Heather and Mike Greenaway became business partners in stage two of the Vineyard.
The 'Baddaginnie Run' Name
Although often mistaken for an aboriginal word, Baddaginnie was the name given to the local township by Sri Lankan railway workers building the Melbourne-Sydney rail line in the 1860s. According to local legend, when provisions failed to arrive at the settlement, the Sri Lankan men named their camp 'baddaginnie' meaning 'empty belly'.
We included 'Run' into the name as a historical acknowledgement of the sheep run that used to occupy the current vineyard site.
A truly family affair
Baddaginnie Run wines is truly a family affair involving 3 generations of extended family members:
- Winsome's brother-in-law John McCahon helped Leonie establish the Seven Vineyard and brother Angus Howell helped establish Jane's Vineyard (Jane was Winsome's mother's name).
- Snow's son Toby Barlow is the Winemaker.
- Winsome's son Matthew McCaughey designed most of the marketing collateral
- Winsome's nephew Grant Howell helps service the plant and equipment.
- Winsome's niece Joclyn McCahon runs corporate wine tastings in Sydney, and she and her husband Bruce pulled this website together.
- All the family members helped plant, prune and pick early vintages, cook marvelous feasts for working weekends, participate in conservation plantings, and are extremely helpful in sampling the wines on a regular basis!
We have celebrated many occasions at the 'Rotherlea' homestead and the Christmas party and tennis tournament has become something of a legend!
Ancestors & Descendents
The name Seven Sisters derives from the 7 generations of family associated with the valley since 1870. As we are a family that loves to tell our story and honor our ancestors, we will begin with the family pioneer matriarch Mary McCrimmon McPherson, who was the great, great, great, great grandmother of the most recent generation.
The McPhersons were the 'notorious hereditary pipers to the McLeods', and were fierce supporters of Bonny Prince Charlie. In 1852 the widowed Mary sailed to Australia from the Isle of Skye on the 'Wanata' accompanied by 8 of her 15 children.
The English Clearances and Closures Acts drove many small Scottish farmers from their holdings, making land ownership their great dream. When Mary's daughter Emilia rattled into the region on a bullock dray in 1870 and settled on the Glen Falloch site near Baddaginnie, she expressed the hope that future generations would maintain the land in the interest of family independence. Each succeeding generation has worked hard to maintain her prophecy and dream.
Four of Mary McCrimmon Mcpherson's great, great, great grand daughters have been married in the valley - Kirsty McCahon, Joclyn McCahon, Claire Howell and Marion Howell. Marion's marriage to Snow's son and Baddaginnie Run winemaker Toby Barlow cemented the Barlow family connection with the valley.