Gareth Belton

Coming Up

Since 2013, founder and winemaker Gareth Belton has built Gentle Folk in Adelaide Hills, Australia around a plain method: farm well, handle the wine carefully, and keep it drinkable. The label’s natural-wine focus is there, but it is not framed as doctrine. What comes through instead is a working order that connects vineyard practice to the finished bottle, with no need for extra language.

Where They Are Now

Since 2013, winemaking at Gentle Folk in Adelaide Hills, Australia has stayed tied to a clear set of priorities under Gareth Belton: natural wine, made without fuss, and judged by whether it drinks well. Belton’s own description is direct: “I do make natural wine… that’s what I strive for, and if I fall under that current label, that’s fine.” The statement says enough on its own. It places the emphasis on method, not branding, and on a standard that can be measured in the glass. What Belton puts first is drinkability. “Hopefully always high on the drinkability scale with the majority of our wines,” he says, and that line is the best guide to the house style at Gentle Folk. The goal is wine that holds onto place without becoming severe, wine that invites a second glass rather than demanding attention. In that sense, the work in Adelaide Hills is defined by restraint, by farming, and by a preference for clarity over display.

Signature

Gareth's signature wines include Rainbow Juice, Village Blanc, Village Riesling, Village Chardonnay, and Village Gamay. Taken together, they show a range built on directness rather than excess. At Gentle Folk, those bottlings sit inside the same working logic that has guided the label since 2013: keep the wine clear, keep it moving, and keep the drink central to the craft.

In Their Words “In terms of farming, I could see no alternative, I want to care for the land and for what I put into my body.” “I do make natural wine… that’s what I strive for, and if I fall under that current label, that’s fine.”