Three drops make for perfection. Take one drop of luxurious olive oil, a drop of delightful wine and blend with a drop of clear spring water. The result is 3drops, Mount Barker’s premium producer of wines and Western Australian olive oil.

The creation of 3drops has been an evolutionary process. It started life as a traditional Mount Barker family farm where 3drops owner Joanne Bradbury grew up and over the years has been crafted to become one of WA’s most acclaimed producers of olive oil and distinctive regional wines.

Joanne came to Australia from the UK in 1973 with her family when father Neale Warneford, commanding officer of British submarine HMS Talent, opted for life as a farmer and bought the 1700 acre property in Mount Barker where Joanne spent her childhood.

A plan evolved to change the shape of the traditional farming property. It started with the creation of the large holding dam that helped provide the origins of the 3drops name. In 1998 Joanne and husband John started work on planting 2000 Italian variety Frantoio olive trees, which particularly suit the Mt Barker region for producing olive oil. They also have small plantings of Spanish and Greek varieties. A year later the decision was made to plant grapes as well as olives and the first 3drops wine was produced in 2001.

In 2002 Castle Rock Estate’s Rob Diletti became the winemaker, a role he has retained ever since. From two wines in 2001, a Sauvignon Blanc and what 3drops calls Cabernets, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, which they still make, the range has grown to eight wines. Original plantings were mainly red, along with Sauvignon Blanc which quickly became fashionable and in 2002 the plantings were balanced out with other white varieties like Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillon and a small amount of red Nebbiolo. To round out their reds, in 2007 3drops acquired the old Patterson’s Vineyard with its mature Pinot, Chardonnay and Shiraz vines.

The 2000 olive trees have also matured over the years and 3drops is continuing to produce a boutique extra virgin olive oil with distinctive cool climate characteristics and a balance of fruitiness, bitterness and pungency. 3drops harvests its olives a little later than most growers, creating a milder, not quite so peppery olive oil.

3drops wines were almost an immediate hit, receiving many awards over the years and consistently rated as a five star winery in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion.

Now 3drops, which started exporting its wine in 2005, exports to China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

A more recent success, and one that keeps the memory of Neale Warneford alive, has been the addition of a Rosé wine to the range. Made in memory of Joanne’s father, the 2016 vintage Rosé was a blend of Shiraz and Nebbiolo, and in 2017 was made entirely from Nebbiolo. Joanne says her father, who was part of the Mt Barker Agricultural Society, and an early member of the committee for the Wine Show of Western Australia, would be proud.

When he died in 2003 a trophy was named for him in the show for Best Red Blend, a fabulous tribute to the British naval man who swapped life on a submarine for a Mount Barker farm.