Our Story

Our Wine Journey

 

My first memory’s of wine was as a teenager in my native New Zealand. It was the 1970s, and wine was drunk only on special occasions. Imported wines were expensive and the local wines seemed to have a variation in taste. A work colleague made some interesting fruit wines with variation in taste.

For almost half a decade in the 1980s I based myself in England and travelled extensively around Europe. It was while visiting friends in the south of France that I really became aware of wine. We spent most of the day in a bar, talking, eating and drinking wine with the locals and I become aware the social aspect of drinking wine. I explored wine varieties and how they are responsible for some of those variations in taste. As I travelled further afield, I became aware of how different countries had different wines, and how different regions produced differing wine varieties. Eventually while sitting under some shady vines in Greece, it was explained to me that even the wines from opposite sides of the valley had a different taste even though the vines where the same variety and age.

Returning to New Zealand I had a new found awareness of wine, and was better able to appreciate the new and upcoming industry along with the new varieties being grown.

My work took me to Victoria, Australia, and my hobby as a white water kayaker took me into the alpine areas where I discovered many small wineries, making various varieties of wines. I became aware of how the climate varies the taste of different vintages.

While traveling in Africa I got to experience some of their wines and several years later I was fortunate enough to travel to South America, and experience some of theirs.

Back in Australia, I spent 3 years in the New South Wales, cool climate wine regions. It was here that I became fascinated with the tastes of different varieties, from different vineyards, and different vintages. I started drinking a glass of wine with my evening meal and it soon becomes apparent that my tastes in wine did not match those of the media. For a while I had a couple of favourites wines, however, I soon realised that I was not experiencing those taste variations.

I spent a year working in Brisbane, Queensland, and enjoyed trips inland to taste the many varieties of warm climate wines produced there. While not the classical varieties, they produce some fascinating tastes and styles.

I decided to have a go at making my own wine. Not being a wine maker, I sought a small vineyard from which to produce the best grapes I can, in collaboration with my winemakers. Then I leave it to the winemakers to perform their magic and produce an interesting and tasty wine. Not mass produces wines, but wines with taste that I hope you may enjoy also.

 

Gary Smith