Not far from Scotland's famous Loch Lomond, rising above the church in Balquhidder, is a small hill called Creag an Tuirc.

In ancient times, this hill was the natural rallying point for the war-like clan MacLaren.

Quite naturally, the clan's war cry therefore became "Creag an Tuirc" or, as it's translated into English, "the Boar's Rock".

It therefore seemed appropriate to give our business this gallant name, gathering as it has the clans of the McLaren Vales - even though now it is to make wine rather than war.

We built a business getting wine out of its bottleneck.

The wine industry was booming during the 1990s.

A wave of new vineyards was being planted across Australia with a wave of new labels flooding the shelves.

But between the vine and the wine there was something missing.

Vintage crush capacity was not increasing at the same rate as the vineyard plantings and tank storage was also growing in demand.

The time was perfect for the establishment of a custom crush winery to get wine out of its bottleneck.

Fortune also played its part, conspiring to bring the three founding partners together with a common vision.

Three men: one vision.

Rob Hunt knew the wine industry, first as a grape grower at Morphett Vale and then as one of the team to establish and manage the Australian Bottling Company, a contract wine bottling and packaging service based at Lonsdale, south of Adelaide in South Australia.

So it was no surprise to him that the plethora of new vineyards and labels would create processing problems.

Discussions with winemakers confirmed the theory.

What was required was a purpose-built, independent winery to process the increasing volumes of fruit.

While working out how to fund a facility of suitable size, he learned that McLaren Vale grape grower Norm Doole had a similar notion.

At a chance meeting, they resolved to undertake the project together.

Norm, a Canadian by birth, was originally an international banker, living and working in a number of the world's major financial centres.

Once freed from this world of finance, he retired to picturesque McLaren Vale to buy a vineyard and develop his passion for fine wine.

As the business plan started to evolve, a small number of local investors joined the ranks.

What the new venture needed, however, was a winemaking professional with the necessary experience in large-scale and high-quality production.

Mike Farmilo was just such a man, born and bred in Renmark and having created a stellar career in winemaking.

As Group Red Winemaker at Southcorp, Mike too had wondered about the direction the industry was heading.

So when Rob approached him with the idea of a new winery in McLaren Vale, he needed little convincing to join the team.

Between the three founding partners, there was the depth of business and industry knowledge necessary to make their vision a reality.

All they finally needed was for the industry to embrace their plan.

1997: a vintage year for making wineries.

As a result, Boar's Rock was established in January 1997 with the first polished stainless steel storage tanks rising starkly out of a dry and sun-bleached paddock.

Grape processing machinery, wine handling equipment and fermenters were added during the year in readiness for the vintage of 1998.

Each year since has seen further additions, increased storage and processing capacity as well as extensions to our range of winemaking services in response to our clients' growing needs.

We can now provide every step of the process from crush and ferment through to wine ready for bottling, including pre-vintage grape analysis, laboratory services, oak maturation, wine management, barrel finance and bulk wine sales.

In fact, everything you need, not just to turn grapes into wine but wine into profit as well.

Egrets. Swamp hens. Chestnut Teals. Ibis. But not a boar in sight.

A winery has to be kept meticulously clean which naturally involves the use of wash-down water.

But managing this water once it has been used can become a significant environmental issue.

At Boar's Rock, our goal has always been to treat and dispose of wastewater so it has minimum impact on the environment.

One of our first tasks therefore was to construct a wetland as our primary wastewater treatment system.

The naturally occurring bacteria in the wetland break down sugars and other vegetable matter in the wastewater as it seeps slowly through the ponds and ultimately into the dam where it blends with the rainwater run-off from the roofs and the roadways.

Our wetland is now a permanent ecosystem and this safe, peaceful environment has become the home and breeding habitat for many native water birds, frogs and waterborne invertebrates.

As a secondary wastewater management area, we also have a eucalypt forest.

Rarely used for water discharge, it has become home to a range of native woodland birds and insects and provides a scenic drive into the winery.

So don't be alarmed if you ever visit Boar's Rock and someone says "duck".

It just means the Pacific Blacks have landed again.