Our Story
Who is Off Track Wines
Anna Fisher with her husband, Brett Fisher, are avid outdoor enthusiasts. Spending most holidays travelling around Australia in their 4WDs, hiking and paddling. Both studied science degrees focusing on Australia's incredible flora and fauna, Anna specifically completed an Ecotourism degree.
Through various twists of fate, Anna ended up as a qualified accountant running wine businesses in McLaren Vale. This included General Management roles at Penny's Hill, Mr Riggs and eventually co-owning Zonte's Footstep.
Why did they create Off Track Wines?
Scroll back to 2016, when Brett and Anna were travelling around Victoria with two young girls in James (their Nissan Patrol). Four amazing weeks completing an anti-clockwise navigation of the state covering the Great Ocean Road, High Country, Lakes Entrance and Wilson Promontory.
Less amazing was the sound of rattling wine bottles the whole time which culminated in a breakage in the car fridge. Anna started to wonder about alternative packaging. I mean, she owned a premium wine company from McLaren Vale (Zonte’s Footstep), surely there is a better solution.
Meanwhile, Brad, co-owner Zonte's Footstep, had been visiting North America where wine in cans was growing rapidly.
So, in late 2016, they decided to put some wine in a can as a test. It wasn’t perfect, but through trial and error they learnt a lot and spent the ensuing years working out how to get it right. Six years later, they were finally confident that the quality of our wine in a tinny matches what Zonte's Footstep does in a bottle. And so, launched Off Track Wines in October 2022 at the 4WD and Adventure Show here in Adelaide!
Why switch to Off Track Wines?
Apart from the fact that Off Track wines are delicious and made by people who’ve been making wine for two decades, here’s some practical reasons:
- Transportability - these cans are designed to travel! Each 12-pack is equivalent to 4 bottles of wine but weighs only 3.2kg. Roughly 30% lighter than the full bottles and once empty the cans are 90% lighter! Perfect for hikes, treks and travels whenever weight matters.
- Storage – Off Track Wines pack very efficiently. Each 12 pack takes up a little more than the space of 1 wine bottle and yet is the equivalent of 4 bottles. Crush the cans after drinking, and you’ll get that space back.
- Chill factor – Off Track cans will cool down faster and require less inputs than bottled wine. Particularly important when you are running off car/trailer batteries in remote areas. And the cans fit so much better in a car fridge than a tall bottle.
- Serving size – each 250mL can gives 2 x 125mL glasses. And two glasses is a single serve, right?!
- Quality is king– Same quality as a $30 bottle of wine. We package the wine regularly and in small quantities so it’s as fresh as possible and tastes great every time.
- Recyclable – Finally, being people who want to leave the world as good if not better than we found it, cans are easier to recycle. And unlike bottled wine, Off Track wines are part of the state-based container deposit schemes. Please recycle and collect your 10 cents per can.
Zonte's Footstep - The Pedigree
Zonte’s Footstep is a progressive and dynamic company owned by Brad Rey, Anna Fisher, Marty O'Flaherty and Scott Collet. Focusing on delivering engaging and fun wine products that compliment a modern lifestyle with honesty and authenticity from our home in McLaren Flat.
Today this means we have fun, without judgement - lively, bold, and full of spirit – it means:
- There are 8,000 glasses of Zonte’s Footstep drunk around the world every day
- In more than 16 different countries
- 37 trophies in 5 years and over 250 gold medals in the same time
- First Australian Winery to become White Ribbon Accredited
A couple of wine scribes recently noted: "The critically acclaimed Zonte's Footstep wines are not ‘old world', nor even ‘new world', Zonte's is out of this world!" and "Zonte's Footstep; Jump on board this fabulously priced wine and enjoy one of the best value wines in the Southern Hemisphere" (Matthew Jukes).
James Halliday named us a Five Star Winery in his 2020 edition of Australian Wine Companion, something we are also very proud of.
“The truth is out there in the vineyard... but the proof is in the bottle” Brad Rey
... and now the can!