Our beginnings
Larry Costa, a former hairdresser, started off making wines as a hobby during the 90’s. During the late 90’s Larry was forced into an early retirement from hairdressing due to an eye illness (macular degeneration) and turned to winemaking on a more serious note. Larry’s son, Michael Costa, undertook and completed the Bachelor of Oenology Degree at the University of Adelaide, with Flying Winemaker stints both in Italy and France to gain further knowledge in making wines. Tenafeate Creek Wines first release was in 2002, when they made a Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese all sourced from One Tree Hill Vineyards. Today, Tenafeate Creek Wines produces over 20 different wine styles, but still retaining that small batch, traditional, hands on methodology on winemaking.
The property
A One Tree Hill residence back in the 1800’s called the Homestead – “Tenafeate”, this is an adaptation of a Gaelic name meaning ‘The Whistling House’. The Tenafeate Homestead was situated near a running creek which therefore gave rise to the name “Tenafeate Creek”.
Pronunciation – TEN-A-FEET