BiographyJohn Kirk was born in England in 1935. His family was Irish and owned two hotels. He worked in the bar and was in charge of the cellar. He studied chemistry at Cambridge and in 1968 came to a job with the CSIRO in Canberra. In 1971 he bought 44 acres at Murrumbateman and began planting a vineyard. He talks about its development and working on it mainly on weekends. He left the CSIRO in 1997. Did the wine course at Wagga 1984 to 1989. He won a gold medal for his shiraz in 1990 at the Griffith Show. Son Tim Kirk is a winemaker. Has been making Viognier since 1998 which won top wine in New South Wales
![Interview with John Kirk [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 1 of 4](/img/placeholder.gif?1762292655 "Interview with John Kirk [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 1 of 4")