Ballabourneen (pronounced Balla-bour-neen) is a Gaelic name that refers to a town road, as close as we can work out. The original Ballabourneen vineyards were on a property close by The Old North Road of convict built fame, which when subdivided, was simply called "The Ballabourneen".

The winemaker and a very important bloke

Like most young winemakers worth their salt, Dan Binet craved the opportunity to make his very own wines. Blessed with good training, a great mentor, and ‘buckets' of ambition, that dream is now a reality. Alex Stuart, a retired builder, started Ballabourneen when he and his wife Di moved from Sydney to Lovedale in 1994 and established a small vineyard at the end of Talga Road. A few years later he began having white wines made for him by the late Alasdair Sutherland at Capercaillie, and reds by Andrew Thomas.

Alex put the brand on hold and most of his wine stocks into storage when he sold the vineyard in 2006, but maintained his interest in the local wine and tourism industries as a board member and now President of Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism. A couple of years ago a chat with Dan Binet rekindled his desire to get back into the industry at an operational level.

For a cellar door, they have taken over the former Evans Family site in Broke Road, right in the very heart of Pokolbin.