People - Singlefile Wines - Single Vineyard wines of the Great Southern

In 1986 geologists Phil and Viv Snowden moved from South Africa to Perth and following the sale of their mining services company, they turned their attention to their long-held passion for making and enjoying great wine.

They discovered the beautiful and remote region of Denmark in Western Australia, where cool climate wines of outstanding quality are produced. Phil and Viv bought an established vineyard (planted in 1989) and set about employing some of the top minds in the industry to help them turn the vineyard into a world-class chardonnay producer.

Phil and Viv remain involved as proprietors of the business but the day-to-day running of Singlefile Wines is done by son-in-law, Patrick Corbett and daughter Pam.

Recently, the family opened The Cellar, a tasting room and restaurant on the estate.

Singlefile is focused on making the best single vineyard wines possible so site selection for each wine is critical. Since 2009, renowned West Australian winemaker, Larry Cherubino has consulted on vineyard selection from different sub-regions of Western Australia best suited to each varietal.

The crest on the Singlefile Wines label expresses the family’s international heritage. The springbok is the national animal for South Africa and appears on that country’s coat of arms. The stag is the emblem of County Clare in Ireland where Patrick was born and the geese represent those that can be seen walking in single file around the estate in Denmark. Semper Superne Nitens, written in Latin on the crest, translates to “the pursuit of excellence”, a motto that defines the philosophy of Singlefile.