In 2017, after three decades of global roaming in his role as an aviation leasing executive, Jon O’Connell and his wife Melissa decided it was time to return to Australia, following their four children who were completing their final years at boarding school.

Despite a background in aeronautical engineering and zero experience in viticulture, the O’Connells landed on a 35-hectare winery in the tiny Adelaide Hills town of Macclesfield – famous for two pubs – about a 45-minute drive from the CBD.