David Hamilton planted vines in the Kuitpo sub-region of the Adelaide Hills in 1997, with the help of viticultural guru Geoff Hardy. David grew grapes and sold them to local wineries. He dabbled in making wine for himself but never really released anything commercially.

In 2016, David’s son James processed some grapes from the family vineyard to produce a few barrels of wine for the first ever Golden Child vintage. James had experience making wine in Australia and California and used the Golden Child name to reference banter between himself and his sister. The wines were well received and the brand has been growing ever since.

James is becoming more involved in the grape growing side of the business and is implementing changes including more sustainable farming (largely organic practices) and planting new varieties that suit the climate of the vineyard (Gamay, Fiano and hopefully one day Nebbiolo and Nerello Mascalese). Some small parcels of fruit are purchased from other growers, however, most of the Golden Child wine is made from grapes grown on the family vineyard.

Hi, I'm James.

I have worked in the wine industry for over fifteen years, both in Australia and California. Our little band started when I purchased a few tonnes of grapes from Dad in 2016. The name references banter between my sister and I as to who is the golden child of the family.

We use largely organic practices in the vineyard (although we’re not certified.. yet) and we use pretty lo-fi winemaking in the winery. To me, this means usually hand picking fruit, being gentle and precise in the winery, and getting the wine into bottle without filtration or too much other manipulation. I aim to make fresh, bright, interesting wines that are easy to drink but also sometimes make you think.

We do purchase fruit from some other small growers, those who share our values with farming grapes. This includes Brackenwood in Kuitpo (Adelaide Hills) and Nick and Helen Vrees and the Jericho family in Blewitt Springs (McLaren Vale).

Outside of wine, I like surfing, skateboarding and music. I especially love punk, hardcore and metal music (i.e anything heavy or fast).