WINE connoisseurs and neighbours have praised pioneer wine-maker Arleen Reimers as her family’s Old Kingower winery marks 50 years of vintages.
Arleen is regarded as a trailblazer in the wine industry who planted vines and used district stone to construct the winery’s cellar door and other buildings.
Neighbour and fellow winemaker Mark Gilmore said Arleen had been an inspiration over her five decades.
Arleen and David Reimers planted their first cabernet and shiraz vines in 1972. The first vintage followed in 1975. 
They say the small family-owned vineyard continues to produce much sought-after classic vintage wines and the cellar door was a hive of activity over the King’s Birthday long weekend.
The reserved Arleen downplayed her pioneering role in the industry but long-time customers including Cheryl Murphy and Deborah Burdidge were quick to praise her wine-making talents.
Originally called Blanche Barkly - named after the gold nugget found nearby in 1857 - Old Kingower wines are estate grown, vintaged and bottled. 
Medium to fine grain French oak small casks are the maturation vessels and vintages still have traditional cork stoppers.
“The ancient Cambrian geology provides the deep and complex mineral soils for the old vines to reach down into, as well as ample stone for our other passion, stone masonry,” say the Reimers.