He made his first wine in 1857 and exported two hogsheads to England in 1859, one of the first exports of wine from South Australia. By 1863 his vineyards covered 35 acres of Grenache, Mataro, Muscat, Roussillon, Shiraz and Zante grapes. He also purchased grapes from other vignerons in the Adelaide area. By 1879 his vintage had reached 27,000 gallons (100,000 litres).

He purchased "Brookside" of 24 acres at Marion, South Australia in April 1862, planted it with grapes and put John Western