Dylan Grigg

Originally from South Australia, Dylan Grigg is a viticulturist, consultant and researcher who has spent nearly thirty years working with vineyards across Australia and abroad. Dylan studied viticulture at Waite in Adelaide and later completed a PhD investigating grapevine age. He has built a career advising leading producers in diverse regions across Australia and overseas. His work has been widely recognised, including being named Australian Viticulturist of the Year 2026 and receiving the Wine Industry Awards: Excellence in action Award for work promoting and protecting old vines in 2025. 

After living in Spain for several years Dylan and his family moved back to Australia to be near family and return to his clients. Soon after this the opportunity to take ownership of a 6-hectare site of dry-grown bush-vine Grenache on deep sand in his home region of the Barossa Valley was too good to pass up, he named this Vinya Vella after his time in Catalunya. This is now the site of his own wine project growing and making Old Vine Grenache. His farming approach draws on both research and practice, a blend of precise agronomy, soil and plant nutrition, canopy balance and the use of modern mapping tools combined with traditional methods learned from old-vine landscapes.  

Through his consultancy, Meristem Viticulture, Dylan works with growers to improve drive wine quality via holistic approach of supporting vine and site health. His methods are science forward and guided by intuitive observation respecting the soil, vines and site-specific vine balance, fostering long-term vineyard resilience, particularly in cool and variable climates.  

Colleagues and clients often remark on his rare ability to translate complex science into intuitive, thoughtful farming bringing academic rigour to the practical realities of modern vineyard management.