When in 1985 John Parker initiated ‘The Abbey’ vineyard in Coonawarra, it was anything but his initial foray into the wine industry.
After becoming one of the first Australians to operate a commercial cotton business, he established the visionary Hungerford Hill Wines in the Hunter Valley in 1968.
Furthermore, in 1970 he was part of the purchase of Reynella, in which he had a stake until 1976, and was also involved in the establishment of the Buronga winery near the Victoria-NSW border.