Tim Adams

Owner and winemaker, Tim Adams, began his career in the wine industry as a cellarhand at the Stanley Wine Company in 1975, steadily working his way through the ranks to become winemaker in 1981 following graduation. The first inclination to leave came in 1985, when Tim and his wife were approached by local cooper Bill Wray to form a partnership of the two families to make wine and small oak casks. The first wines under the Adams & Wray label were released in September 1986. 2025 marked Tim’s 50th Vintage.

Tim Adams’ began during a grape shortage in 1986, relying on 10 tonnes of Shiraz from a neighbour to release its first wine under the Adams and Wray label. Following the dissolution of the partnership in 1987, the winery was renamed Tim Adams Wines, coinciding with the purchase of its Warenda Road site in Clare and the arrival of Tim’s daughter, Frances. By 1988, the cellar door was opened, and the first grapes were crushed on-site, marking the start of decades of growth, evolution, and commitment to sustainability and the Australian wine community. Tim Adams, raised in Clare Valley, began his career in 1975 under the mentorship of the renowned Mick Knappstein at the Stanley Wine Company, eventually releasing his first wines under his own label in 1986. Their relationship, with Mr Mick as Tim’s last apprentice, continued until his passing in 1997, leaving a legacy of passion, hard work, and dedication that defines the progressive family winery today.