Paul and Jill Buttery established Gemtree Wines' vineyards in McLaren Vale in 1980. Together with daughter Melissa, they launched the Gemtree Wines label in 1998. Today Melissa is the viticulturalist alongside chief winemaker husband Mike Brown.

Gemtree's wines are grounded in the earth. In 2007, Melissa introduced biodynamic practices that interweave the soil, vines and resident flora & fauna into a healthy ecosystem. And then there is the moon. Just as the moon causes the tides in Gulf St Vincent, only a few kilometres away, Gemtree plant, graft and harvest to the phases of the moon. At the winery minimal intervention then crafts the wines.

Gemtree Wines' Subterra Shiraz is their lead, aged in a barrel buried deep in the vineyard – in every respect an expression of McLaren Vale earth. Other highlights are the Obsidian Shiraz and Ernest Allan Shiraz.