Brendon-Keys-BK-Wines

When he found out the New Zealand Navy had a three-year wait, a young, fresh-outta-high-school Brendon Keys decided to go snowboarding instead. 

As well as cooking in restaurants to fund their season in Val-d'Isère, he and his now-wife, Kirsty, looked after a chalet in the French ski resort that happened to be owned by the family behind Majestic Wines. Still unsure what to do with his life once spring arrived, he took a job with the British wine retailer in London. “It exploded my interest in wine really, really quickly.” 

After a viticulture and oenology degree back home in New Zealand, wine took Brendon first to McLaren Vale, then California and Argentina. “By then, my passion for chardonnay and pinot noir had really risen,” he says. So, when he and Kirsty decided it was time to move back and do their own thing, “Adelaide Hills was the place to go. 

“I’d worked with some vineyards in the Hills when I was in McLaren Vale and I’d always loved what was coming out of there,” he says. “It was also a super young region with no preconceived ideas or styles set in stone; I liked the idea that we could be part of shaping that.”

There’s no question that BK Wines, which Brendon launched in 2007 with two barrels of pinot noir, has been a fundamental part of the Hills’ story. But while his low-fi winemaking approach was surely inspiration for some of the Basket Range’s more ‘natty’ producers, and the region’s ensuing reputation for the category, his philosophy has always been grounded in wines of interest, purity and place. “We don’t call ourselves natural,” he says.

“I try to push those techniques that build texture, weight, and that excitement factor when you open a bottle. I look at each wine as its own entity and apply different techniques to each one to get what I think is a great result.” 

That’s meant a fair amount of experimentation over the decades, too (“The whole bunch thing? Someone said it shouldn't or couldn't be done, and I was like, "Well, I'm going to do it, just to prove a point."), which has led to a considerable range, although it’s been somewhat tightened in recent years.

Single-vineyard chardonnay and pinot, made from some of the Hills’ top sites, dominate, with their sons’ namesake lines, the single-barrel Remy Pinot Noir and single-barrel Archer Beau Chardonnay, at the top of that tree. There’s also gamay, sangiovese, pinot grigio, savagnin sous voile, pinot noir-based rosé made using the saignée method, and, in a nod to his past, cabernet sauvignon, and a juicy grenache/mourvèdre blend both from McLaren Vale fruit. 

In 2025, Brendon and Kirsty opened a tasting room at their Basket Range winery (and were swiftly recognised with the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Chanticleer Award for Best Cellar Door Person, presented to the cellar door employee who best exemplifies the heart and soul of the region) which, he says, “has been a fantastic addition.

“Wine often tells your story second or third hand,” he says, “but when people come here and taste, and see where we make and bottle and sell our wines, they get to hear our story directly.” 

BK Wines will celebrate 19 years on September 19, 2026, with the Biggest Tasting Ever party at its tasting room, with 190 wines on pour. Click here for tickets.