Making wine has always been a family affair for the Portets. Dominique is the ninth recorded generation in a family of vignerons dating back to eighteenth century France. A love of winemaking traditions developed from growing up amongst the vineyards. Arriving in Australia 1976, Portet quickly became an integral part of the Victorian wine industry. For the Porterts, wine is life, it has a cycle from earth to table, it is the first love. Ben Portet has worked under the direction of Brian Croser and Con Moshos at Petaluma, at Taltarni with his father, the Napa Valley and South Africa, in Bordeaux with Philippe Blanc of Chateau Beychevelle, in Reims with Louis Roederer, and the Rhone Valley where he specialised in Hermitage Syrah.