he O'Dea Family, believing that Cowra's potential as a grape-growing region could only be reached by processing its own fruit locally, have invested in a state of the art winery - completed in time for the 1999 vintage. The winery was erected on a hillside overlooking the magnificent vista of the Estate's vineyard. The vision for the winery was to combine the latest technology with traditional techniques, and most importantly to reduce the critical time between picking and crushing the grapes. Because the Windowrie Estate vineyards surround the winery, winemaking can begin within minutes of harvesting. David O'Dea explains “having a winery close to the source of production allows the special attributes of the locality to be stamped onto the wine. Windowrie wines are estate grown and made on site at the winery.” The winery is also accredited as an organic processor allowing the winery to make organic wine from organically grown grapes. The winery has the capacity to handle small volumes of fruit through to very large parcels up to 200 tonnes in one night.