DescriptionKaluna was one of the most successful vineyards in the Sydney region. It was established in 1887 by Mr J. McLean and managed by Ambrose Laraghy who had worked at James Busby’s Kirkton Vineyard in the Hunter Valley.
In 1918 Ambrose’s son Arthur Colin Laraghy purchased Kaluna and ran it with the aid of his wife and two daughters, Dora (21), and Eileen (19).
Kaluna made a full range of wines, red and white; sweet and dry. Arthur Laraghy travelled to Mudgee to purchase grapes in order to make fortified wines. He gave Chardonnay cuttings from Kaluna to the Roth family of Craigmoor Winery which they planted. These cuttings came from Busby's original collection at Kirkton and it is suggested that Kaluna was the only Chardonnay source left at this time.
Kaluna consistently won prizes for its wine at the Royal Easter Shows in the early to mid-1950s but eventually the vineyard closed and the land was subdivided for residential lots in 1959. One of the buildings still stands and is included in the Fairfield City Heritage Inventory. The address is Kaluna Avenue, Smithfield and the premises operated as a bottle shop under the name Valore Cellars.
