It was thanks to his uncle that David Powell discovered the world of vines and wine. He found a job in Rockford, in the Barossa Valley, as close as possible to the old Shiraz vines, while travelling in Europe and the United States where he did several harvest campaigns.

In 1992, he cleaned up a few plots of old vines for the owners before taking over several hectares as sharecroppers. Convinced of the potential of the Barossa Valley at a time when the region's old vines were being uprooted on a massive scale, he founded the Torbreck estate in 1994, named after a Scottish forest in the Highlands where he had worked as a lumberjack, and vinified his first vintages.

Year after year, he refines the style of his wines, remaining faithful to his primary source of inspiration, the Rhône, from venerable strains of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Torbreck is now a key producer in Barossa and Australia.