Tahbilk

[6] Rushworth storekeeper Ludovic Marie convinced Glass the land was suitable for viticulture and took over 258 acres (104 ha) of the property for a proposed vineyard and winery.

[6] Marie engaged his friend Richard Henry Horne, who had invested in blocks of land at nearby Murchison on the Goulburn River.

The position of the land, the quality of the soil, the proximity of the water, make the property the most desirable spot which could be selected for vine growing.

[8]In August 1860, the company was called Tahbilk Vineyard Proprietary, with Ludovic Marie as Principal Vigneron and Charles Ebden and James Blackwood as trustees.

[9] The provisional directory, in addition to Horne and Bond, comprised Richard Eades, John Pinney Bear,[10] David Wilkie, George Holmes, Hugh Glass, Samuel Rentsch, G.S.

[9] Marie addressed a dinner of vineyard workers in 1861; he said, "the money for all these extensive operations which were being carried on was found almost solely by three gentlemen... Messrs. Bear, Glass and Holmes".

[13] The venture did not compensate Horne for the money he had lost in the early public float, and he returned to England but later said he was "the father of the Australian wine industry".

[7] When Marie left the company, John Pinney Bear assumed control and progressively bought out the other shareholders; by 1876 he was sole owner.

[6] By that year, Tahblik's annual vintage output was around 31,500 litres (6,900 imp gal) and was winning national and international awards.

[6] Bear employed François De Coueslant as manager in 1877, who is credited with planting the estates' mulberry trees and building the winery tower.

[citation needed] The name Tahbilk originates from the winery's location, which the local aboriginal people first referred to as "tabilk-tabilk", meaning "place of many waterholes".

Their warm, slow moving, water has become a safe haven for indigenous flora and fauna, including at least two threatened or endangered species.