Lisa Margan has lived and worked in the Hunter Valley since she married, Winemaker Andrew Margan, in the late 1980's. Having always wanting to be a chef, Lisa re-trained with respected Hunter Chef Robert Molines. Then after a few years, herself and Andrew set up home in Bordeaux, France where Andrew made wine and Lisa worked as a chef.

It was here that Lisa developed an appreciation for quality produce, technique and the unique appeal of food and wine in the context of a premium wine region.

After the France stint she went back to Uni and completed a master’s degree in science and nutrition, with a thesis on organic food production. Then in 1966 Lisa and Andrew launched their small wine brand, Margan.

Lisa's dream was to create a cellar door and restaurant with an agri-dining focus so that guests could better connect with the provenance of their wine and food. We built and opened our first Margan Cellar Door and Café Beltree on Hermitage Rd, Pokolbin in 2002 on a small old-vine semillon vineyard we purchased. A couple of years later we backed our belief in the emerging wine sub region of Broke Fordwich and built a striking rammed earth cellar door and restaurant at our Ceres Hill Vineyard which we opened in 2007.

Lisa's background in organic food production inspired her to lead the business down a Sustainably Farmed pathway and introduce an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the business. Margan is proud to be considered a regional leader in Environmental Stewardship. We are fully accredited members of Sustainable Winegrowers Australia, the first in the Hunter to do so and our certification is benchmarked to International Standards ISO 14001 for best practice.

Lisa is a strong advocate of the promotion of wine, food and the hospitality industry.

Lisa Margan was inducted as a Tourism Living Legend in 2025