Tibooburra and Solitude History

“Tibooburra” is many things to many people.

To historians, it was once part of Solitude Station, a grazing run that spanned most of the Yarra Valley throughout the latter part of the 1800s.

To wine appreciators, it produces a sumptuous variety of cool climate wines.

To beef producers,  it breeds internationally renowned Angus cattle, in park-like settings.

To naturalists, it is recognised for its stream habitats and its thriving native wildlife.

To the Kerr family, Tibooburra is a place they have called home since 1967 when a few hundred acres of grazing land, undulating hills and bush were purchased by Laurie and Vivienne Kerr.

While wine and beef are now Tibooburra's mainstays, the property received acclaim of a different kind on 20 July 2005 by becoming the first site in Victoria to unearth the elusive black truffle.

AS IT ONCE WAS

 The new Solitude brand by Tibooburra Wines is as old as the hills.

It is named after the original pastoral run that spanned much of the Upper Yarra in the 19^th Century.

Solitude encompassed 28,600 acres (11,580 ha.) and dates back to 1846 when pastoralists “Messrs Kavenagh and Canavan” leased land east of  Woori Yallock Creek.

The selection was an inspired move, given its near proximity to Melbourne, its undulating native grasslands, forests and access to fast-flowing streams. The station also afforded breathtaking panoramas of surrounding peaks: Warramate to the north, Mt Donna Buang eastwards, south beyond the stringybarks to Mt Beenak and Mount Dandenong to the west.

Cattle and sheep were free to roam for miles, foraging on native grasses and sheltering in natural tree barns. A number of streams originating from the nearby hills provided year-round fresh water.

The station, which was leased by subsequent graziers Robert Paynter and Augustus Green into the later part of 1800s, incorporated most of present day Yellingbo, parts of Woori Yallock and Hoddles Creek.

One of  its few remaining holdings is Tibooburra, which is owned and run by the Kerr family. Those natural features that appealed so much to the early pastoralists remain largely unchanged, as do the views, and with it that charmed feeling of isolation that an early horseman was moved to describe as "solitude"…

The Tibooburra story commenced when founders Laurie and Vivienne Kerr purchased a few hundred acres at Hoddles Creek as a weekender. But the family – like the Solitude pioneers before them – took to farming with relish.

Before long, Tibooburra’s Angus herd ranked among Australia’s best, culminating in the property being selected as a host farm for the 1997 World Angus Forum.

An 85-acre vineyard was established by the Kerrs in 1996, on the elevated southern reaches of the property. The vineyard is now rated as one of the Yarra Valley’s foremost producers of premium cool climate wines.

In 2005 Tibooburra also became the first property in Victoria’s history to successfully grow French black truffles.

An underlying ethos of the Kerr family has been to find a balance between successful farming and conservation because it is understood that the two are deeply connected. This has seen the establishment of a number of significant wildlife reserves, the most recent of which is the creation of a three kilometre stream-side corridor linking strategically important swamp lands.

The Kerrs have achieved some significant milestones in their relatively brief custodianship of the land. Today three generations of the family are actively involved in the enterprise, and are keen to continue to embrace the pioneering spirit into the future.

WHAT’S IN A NAME (AND A MAP)

A search of the La Trobe Library of Victoria uncovered an 1854 County of Evelyn map with the name Solitude featured prominently in the foreground.

Overlay that map with present day maps of the locality and there is no doubt that Tibooburra Vineyard was an intrinsic part of Solitude.

McCrae’s Creek, which runs south to north through Tibooburra and ultimately joins Woori Yallock Creek, is marked in pencil on the old map through the central corridor of the Solitude run.

The discovery of the map gave credence to stories Tibooburra manager Greg Kerr had heard about the district’s early pastoralists and a place they called Solitude.

“I found this beautiful old map – bronze / gold in colour –about 1200 mm x 800 mm in size, showing the original place names and natural features of the Yarra Valley, and I became captivated with it,” Kerr said.

“When I realised that the name Solitude appeared right in the middle of our property, it seemed like an irresistible theme for a new wine label. I received permission from the Surveyor General of Victoria to use part of the map as our new label, and there was no turning back from there.

“I was looking for a banner name to help us to assert a new market presence for our wines, which have shown consistent improvement in recent years under the direction of Timo Mayer. All along, we have aspired to produce wines that truly express our unique terroir, and the name Solitude, conjures up that connection with our territory, if you like, and the soil beneath it.

“While Tibooburra is still very much the back story to the label, Solitude is a banner name that I believe will help us put our best foot forward in an ever-competitive market place.”

"Carl's Hut". This original pioneer's hut dates back to the 1940s. Once the hide-away of legendary Victorian Football League ruckman Carl Ditterich, it has been earmarked for a future cellar door	Cows and their offspring graze on a slope overlooking the vineyard	Grace Kerr, a third generation Kerr family link to Tibooburra, on horseback
Matthew Kerr, grandson of Tibooburra founders Laurie and Vivienne Kerr, with Billie the truffle dog	Matthew and Billie with a good find	Television food presenter Cindy Sargon inhales the intoxicating perfume of a Tibooburra truffle. ©Erez Gordon