Enquire Monapilla Escape
A row of Shiraz vines running down The Range towards the McLaren Vale hills

Family owned · Family run · Est. 1830s

Monapilla
Estate

A 600-acre family farm on The Range, overlooking McLaren Vale. Single-vineyard Shiraz and Suffolk lamb for the conscious consumer.

The Beal Family

A farm is more than vines and sheep.

“It’s a family’s heritage and future.”

Monapilla Estate sits on The Range above the McLaren Vale wine region. Thirty-five acres are given to Shiraz. The rest is high-quality grazing country for our Suffolk flock, with fenced creek lines left as habitat for native wildlife. We farm it the way we would want to be farmed: slowly, carefully, and for the long run.

The Beal Family

The Beal family walking together through the paddock at Monapilla Estate

Live as though you’ll die tomorrow, farm as though you’ll live forever

The Range, in order

Nearly two centuries of one piece of land, and three decades of one family on it.

  1. Founded1830s

    The Range is settled

    Six hundred acres on the ridge above the vale, with the coast on one horizon and the vines on the other. It was founded in the early 1830s and would wait a century and a half for the family that would make it a home.

    Sunset over the rolling paddocks and gum trees of The Range
  2. Re-established1990s

    The Beal family arrives

    What started as eight acres of dry-grown Riesling and a poor, unproductive landscape became the project of a lifetime. Reduced chemical use, rotational grazing and patience turned it into a parcel of land we are very proud of.

    Read the story
    Sheep grazing on green pasture beneath the gums at Monapilla Estate
  3. The vineyard35 acres

    Five blocks, ten to forty years old

    The same pruner for fifteen years. Sheep grazing between the rows for soil health. Fruit so consistent it has been hand-selected for Penfolds Grange. Then we hand it to Ben Riggs to make our Shiraz.

    The Shiraz
    Winemaker Ben Riggs tasting from the barrel in the cellar
  4. The flockSuffolk

    Kindness over economics, every time

    Suffolks are the breed butchers and restaurants ask for by name: sweet, succulent and tender. Ours are selected for the top percentile of marbling and tenderness in Australia, and raised with shade, shelter and low-stress handling.

    The Suffolks
    A flock of black-faced Suffolk ewes in a golden paddock at Monapilla Estate
  5. NowStay

    Monapilla Escape opens its doors

    Two off-grid villas set apart on the farm, each with a fire-tub under the stars, our Shiraz on the bench and the flock at the fence. The farm you read about here is the one you can wake up on.

    Stay on the farm
    Aerial view of a Monapilla Escape villa among the gum trees
A bottle and glass of Monapilla Estate Shiraz

The Shiraz

Old school. Big, rich, soft, proper McLaren Vale Shiraz.

  • StylePremium Shiraz
  • BatchSmall batch
  • SourceSingle vineyard
  • Vintage2016
“The essence of what I do for Monapilla Estate is to make a wine that your old man loved to drink. Easy drinking, but at the same time flavoursome and interesting.” Ben Riggs, winemaker
Suffolk ewes grazing among the gums at Monapilla Estate
A close portrait of a Suffolk ewe with its distinctive black face

The Suffolks

Home to a flock of Suffolk ewes

Our family has always felt lucky to eat lamb we raised ourselves, knowing every step of its life. We want you to feel the same.

  • Rams selected from the highest percentile for marbling and tenderness in Australia.
  • Shade and shelter, low-stress stock handling, and shearers chosen for how they handle our sheep.
  • Available to restaurants, butchers and anyone who just loves good lamb.
A Monapilla Escape villa at golden hour with a flock of birds overhead

Our sister brandMonapilla Escape

Sleep where the Shiraz grows.

Two private, off-grid villas on the Estate. Fire-tubs under the open sky, vineyard and coast views, e-bikes to the cellar doors, and a bottle of our Shiraz waiting on the bench.

A separate business on the same farm. Stays are booked at monapillaescape.com.au.

Visit us

378 Rifle Range Road, McLaren Vale

For questions about our produce or pricing, email us or call Henry. Visits to the Estate are by appointment.

The brick cellar built into the hillside beside the homestead, with barrels at the door