Tahbilk’s relationship with the varietals that call France’s Rhone Valley home can be traced back to our earliest days with a good deal of fortuitous luck leading to the establishment of that connection rather than a grand plan looking ahead over 160 years! Prior to taking possession of what would become the Tahbilk Estate, one of the directors placed an advertisement in the leading newspapers of Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide and Sydney for 1,000,000 vines. This resulted in the Tabilk Vineyard Company (as we were known then) receiving around 600,000 vine cuttings, among which was the white ‘Rhone’ varietal, Marsanne. Marsanne being the solo ‘Rhone’ whites’ flag-waver for the Estate ended in 1990 with the successful planting of Viognier and Roussanne.