THE Reschke family owns the largest privately held block of land in the Coonawarra. The irony is that although the Coonawarra region in south-east South Australia is renowned for its wine, the Reschke family has largely only run cattle.

The family fortunes were established when Henry Reschke settled the property, Koonara, in 1906.

His great grandson Burke Reschke, 33, is now heading a development to turn a third of the family’s land into vineyards by sourcing external finance.

The family was fortunate in not just having extensive holdings, but in owning some of the better quality soils in the area.

For decades the Reschke family watched askance as many of their neighbours struggled through the long process of establishing vineyards, with varying success.

But the recent boom in Australian wine and the rising fame of the Coonawarra as the home of famed cabernet sauvignons convinced them they were missing out.

The family bought additional land in the late 1980s for around $2500 a hectare. Good quality undeveloped vineyard land in the Coonawarra is now selling in thevicinity of $25,000 a hectare.

The Coonawarra Wine-Grape Project was launched in Adelaide in May. Burke Reschke was in Sydney this week promoting the investment.

It has attracted several significant industry names. Former federal defence minister and president of the National Farmers Federation, Ian McLachlan, heads themanagement board. Former head of Elders, Richard Mollison, is chairman of the investment development board. Former chairman of Clare Valley Winemakers, Andrew Tolley, is a non-executive board member.

The project offers investors 900 investment units of 0.2 hectares of planted vines for a period of 22 years and the option of becoming shareholders in theproperty owner, Coonawarra Property Holdings.

Mr Reschke, who has been the main force behind the project, says this is the only wine investment that advisers JP Morgan have placed on their menu of managed investments, and the first to receive the backing of wine industry analysts Heritage Fine Wines.

The wine will take the Reschke family name. The family has already produced a yet-to-be-released vintage rated as being in the super premium price range. It will be launched later this year as the “market penetrator” for the brand.

The project’s prospectus puts a conservative estimate on the wine’s wholesale price at $12.50 a bottle, a price that will offer an internal rate of return for investors of 14.18 per cent.

“Since I was a boy the family have wanted to go into wine,” says Mr Reschke. “It feels like we should have done this a long time ago, but at least we have been able to benefit from advances in wine- making technology.

“The one thing we have tried to do with this investment is make an honest investment, a completely transparent investment. Agricultural investment schemes have had a lot of bad press. Hardly any of these projects are run by people in the industry. They are by people who don’t have the best interests of the industry at heart.

“With this, my family is on the ground; we’ve put a lot of our own money and resources on the line. And people can buy a piece of the Coonawarra for themselves.”