Our Story
The Vintner’s Daughter creates distinctive, premium small-batch wines. Due to our limited stock you won’t always find our wine at your local bottle shop and so the best way to ensure you don’t miss a release is to join our wine club.
The People
Stephanie Helm — Winemaker
Stephanie Helm began making wine at just nine years old at her family’s vineyard, Helm Wines, where she grew up immersed in all aspects of winemaking. By her teenage years, she was already producing award-winning wines under her own label, The Stephanie Collection. At just 13, her 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon was awarded the Trophy for Best Cabernet at the 1999 Murrumbateman Cool Climate Wine Show.
After completing school, Stephanie studied Arts/Law at the Australian National University while continuing to work in the family business. In 2011, she returned fully to wine, commencing a Bachelor of Wine Science at Charles Sturt University, where she achieved the Dean’s List for academic excellence in both her first and final years. She is also a graduate of the AWRI Advanced Wine Assessment Course.
Stephanie has since received multiple awards and industry recognition for her wines. Alongside her winemaking, she is a mother to two young children, a keen community advocate and brings a strong philosophy of rural living, sustainability, and curiousity into her work.
Benjamin Osborne — Vigneron
Benjamin Osborne is the backbone of the vineyard and winery operations. A qualified horticulturist and landscaper, Ben brings a practical, hands-on approach to every aspect of the business.
Previously the vineyard manager at Helm Wines for over a decade, Ben now oversees all viticulture at The Vintner’s Daughter. His role spans vineyard management, engineering, mechanics, logistics, and anything else required to keep the operation running smoothly. He has significantly reduced our energy use through innovative winery processes and installation of a 32kw solar system to provide the winery’s electricity.
You will often find him at the cellar door ready to guide you through a tasting and provide insights into the behind the scenes process of getting grapes from the vineyard to the bottle.
Ben has led the redevelopment of the estate vineyard, eliminating insecticides and focusing on soil health and biodiversity through composting, mulching, cover cropping, and the integration of Babydoll sheep for natural weed and fertiliser management.
The Wines
Our wines are made with a minimal intervention philosophy, allowing the fruit—and the site—to speak for itself.
Great wine begins in the vineyard. Wherever possible, fruit is sourced from our estate vines, carefully managed by Ben, with additional parcels selected from the nearby Hilltops or Tumbarumba cool-climate regions.
Stephanie combines traditional techniques learned from her father with modern winemaking practices refined through formal study. Her uncompromising focus on quality means only the finest parcels are bottled under The Vintner’s Daughter label, with any lesser batches distilled into spirit to be used in our fortified wines.
White wines are crafted to preserve purity and aromatics, with cool fermentation in stainless steel and no exposure to oxygen or oak.
Red wines are made in a traditional ‘Old World’ style, with extended skin contact, fermentation using a combination of whole bunches and crushed fruit, and maturation in French oak barrels (new and seasoned) for 12–18 months. Each parcel is treated individually, with techniques adapted to variety and vintage.
The Site
The vineyard is located in the Canberra District Cool Climate Wine Region at Murrumbateman, on Ngunnawal Country.
Originally planted in 1978 by Peter and Joan Griffiths, the site was among the earliest vineyards in the region, initially established with Traminer, Crouchen, and Riesling. The first commercial release followed in 1983 with Riesling.
In 1991, Anne Hillier and Mick Withers acquired the property, developing both a cellar door and café under Yass Valley Wines and Crisps Lane Café. They expanded plantings in 1999 to include Riesling, Shiraz, Merlot, Viognier, and experimental varieties.
Ben and Stephanie purchased the property in 2014 and have since revitalised the original vineyard, including reworking and grafting select vines to Pinot Noir.
The vineyard benefits from the Canberra District’s four distinct seasons, high sunlight hours, warm to hot summers, and long cool autumns—conditions that produce wines of intensity, structure, and elegance. Riesling and Shiraz from this region are particularly expressive and distinctive.
Positioned on a gentle slope, the vineyard enjoys excellent cold air drainage, reducing frost risk. The soils are ancient volcanic origins, with sandy loam over iron-rich red clay subsoil. No insecticides are used and herbicides are being phased out through the use of Babydoll sheep (see below).
The property sits among some of Murrumbateman’s most respected vineyards, including Clonakilla and Eden Road. An additional vineyard has recently been planted on the ridge overlooking the winery, doubling future production capacity.
The Vineyard Workers
In line with a commitment to more sustainable and regenerative farming practices, Stephanie and Ben are developing a flock of Babydoll sheep to graze the vineyard year-round.
Babydolls—often referred to as “teddy bear sheep” due to their appearance—are a small Southdown-derived breed valued for their compact structure and suitability for vineyard environments.
Because the breed is rare in Australia, Stephanie and Ben established their own breeding program under the stud name Osborne Ridge, named in honour of Ben’s hometown of Lightning Ridge.
Alongside vineyard management, the sheep contribute to natural fertilisation, weed control, and reduced reliance on heavy machinery, supporting improved soil health and reduced compaction.