HUNTER VALLEY LEGENDS

Greg Silkman started working in his families hotel business after studying science at Newcastle University.

His love of Hunter Wines grew from drinking Semillon and Shiraz and particularly the wines made at Ben Pan by Karl Stockhausen.

He moved to the Hunter Valley in 1985 when he purchased Tamburlaine Wines with Mark Davidson and a group of friends. During that time they grew production from 30t to over 500t.

In 1996 Greg sold his shared in Tamburlaine Wines and purchased Allanmare with 3 other winemakers.

Over the next 2 years he saw a need for a more focused contract winemaking facility in the Hunter Valley.

People were buying vineyards and moving to the Hunter Valley with no understanding of how to produce wine let alone premium wine that was sound. A number of wineries were making wine for the growers but it was not their main focus. 

In October 1998 he leased the old Hungerford Hill winery from McGuigan Wines and started First Creek Winemaking Services. Their first vintage was over 1800t and their first customer was Two Rivers.

Greg purchased First Creek Winemaking Services current site from Rothbury Wines in 1999 and completed the first shed and bottling line in 2000.

The winery was built for the 2001 Vintage. 2005 saw the installation of their 2nd bottling line. In 2017 they built their latest bottling line which represents the latest in bottling technology.

First Creek Winemaking Services now employs over 70 people and provides a winemaking and bottling service to premium wine products in the Hunter Valley, Orange, Mudgee and Hilltop regions.

Greg Silkman was inducted a Legend in 2019.