In 1980 Paul and Jill Buttery bought a vineyard on Tatachilla Road, in the heart of the McLaren Vale Wine Region. A few years later when the wine industry was struggling, they bought another vineyard with land on the eastern side of the region in the foothills near McLaren Flat, which was named Gemtree. After a significant new planting programme, their daughter Melissa joined the company on a full time basis in 1994 having already worked in the vineyard on a part time basis. She studied to qualify as a viticulturist and now manages the Gemtree Vineyards as well as other vineyards for customers of the Terraces Vineyard Management (TVM), an offshoot of Gemtree. Her brother Andrew joined the team in 1997 to manage the TVM and, with the birth of the Gemtree Label in 1998. Mike Brown (ex d'Arenberg and Roseworthy PHD graduate) was asked to make the first Shiraz and it was obviously a success as he then married Melissa to complete the family operation.
Today Gemtree owns 330 acres of prime vineyard with varieties such as Shiraz, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Semillon, Alborino and Verdelho. Since 1998 Gemtree has also been developing the 10 ha Gemtree Wetlands. Having created 6 dams and planted 20,000 native trees and plants they are now working in partnership with Greening Australia creating an area of biodiversity which is a major haven for native plants, frogs, birds and animals as well as being a great teaching resource for the community.