Established in 1923, Heytesbury is a privately owned group of Australian companies, comprising: Vasse Felix, Margaret River's founding wine estate, and Heytesbury Cattle Company, one of Australia's largest cattle companies. Heytesbury is owned by Paul Holmes à Court who represents the second generation of the family who have owned and operated Vasse Felix since 1987. Mr Holmes a Court took over management of the business in 2005 and became the sole owner of Vasse Felix and its parent company in 2008.
Heytesbury Cattle Co. runs six stations spanning 2.5 million hectares across the Northern Territory and the eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia. Among these is the famed Victoria River Downs, which was established in 1883 and was at one time the largest cattle station in the world. Known historically as “The Big Run”, it is now run as four standalone stations: VRD, Moolooloo, Pigeon Hole and Mount Sanford.
Other stations include Birrindudu / Wallamunga in the NT, and Flora Valley / Nicholson / Gordon Downs aggregation in the Kimberley.
Heytesbury Cattle Co. runs a quality herd of approximately 160,000 Brahman cattle, capable of selling sustainably up to 40,000 head per annum, each bearing the famous “Bull’s Head” brand. Brahmans are a Bos indicus breed that is resistant to parasites and adapted to tropical conditions, making them ideally suited to the northern Australian rangelands and to the live export markets of Asia.
