Welcome to my first post…the beginning is always a good place to start.
Following 12 years of service in the Navy, I made a conscious decision to leave the service to enter the wine industry. From a beer and bundy beginning I had discovered the excitement of wine. The colours, the flavours, the variety of styles were all intriguing but left me with more questions than answers. Books, magazine subscriptions and an amateur winemaking course only partly filled the void…there was really only one way to find out what it was all about. I resigned my Commission and had 12 months to find a winery that was willing to take on an untrained, inexperienced wine wannabe. Having spent a fair bit of time in Sydney and visiting the Hunter on many occasions, it only seemed natural that I should start my search for new employment there. Letters and phone calls to industry received a positive response from one winery. In January 1991 – 3 days after leaving the Navy – I started work as a casual vintage cellar hand at the iconic McWilliams Mount Pleasant winery under the management of Phil Ryan. My excitement was indescribable, here was I, working in a region surrounded by the wineries and winemakers that I had been reading about for years. My first vintage was 1991 and passed in a blur of activity as I soaked up the atmosphere and hopefully didn’t make too many blunders. I was driven by enthusiasm that was fuelled by opportunity and at the end of that vintage I was offered a full time position. The transition from a life on the ocean waves to a winemaking future was painless thanks to the support I received over three years at Mount Pleasant.
As I slowly integrated into the Hunter winemaking fraternity and after an evening of imbibing, I jokingly offered my services to Bill Sneddon of Allandale Winery who I knew was looking for a new assistant winemaker. Much to my surprise I received a positive response and an offer to join this quality boutique winery. During five years at Allandale I received what could only be considered the most personal training that could ever be developed. Working directly with Bill, my progression from an enthusiastic learner to a professional creator was carefully guided under Bill’s watchful and laid back tutelage.
By 1998 I felt I was ready to take responsibility for my own decisions and applied for the winemaker role at an Upper Hunter winery that had changed owners and was looking for a winemaker to take the wines in a new direction. I spent 10 years at James Estate during a time of enormous growth through both vineyard and winery expansion as well as interstate acquisitions. By late 2008, I had been given the responsibility of managing significant vineyard, winery, cellar door and restaurant holdings in both NSW and South Australia and winemaking responsibility for the James Estate, Serenella, Basedow, Marienberg and Fern Hill brands. It was long way from my first day on the job when I was struggling to identify a crusher.
I think, for winemakers, there is always, somewhere in the back of your mind, a desire to have your own brand that reflects your own ambitions and hopes. From left field, in late 2008, an opportunity came about to purchase an underutilised vineyard/winery/restaurant in the Granite Belt region of southern QLD. Felsberg Winery consumed our lives for nearly six years. My wife Karen not only managed the cellar door and restaurant but carried out the hands on role of cook for a good part of that time. I had a vineyard and winery to operate along with time in the cellar door. Corkscrew Solutions also came into being at this time though with little time for focus was largely a name in waiting.
In late 2010 I also took a role as Wine and Viticulture Training Manager at the QLD College of Wine Tourism in Stanthorpe. I now had two wineries to manage and had become an educator. As my responsibilities and commitment to the College increasingly took more of my time, a difficult decision was required that was made somewhat easy in the end. Something had to give and we sold the winery. With two young boys growing oh so quickly, we decided to simplify our commitments in favour of having some time to spend as a family.
My role in education and training has expanded and I now find myself as the Manager of Oenology, Education & Training at the College. I still get to enjoy making wine and equally enjoyable is passing on some of my experience to younger generations. I will expand on some facets of my role in following posts.
A little more time on my hands means finding something else to do, hence I thought I might revitalise Corkscrew with a new purpose and also take a leap into social media (Facebook and Twitter under refurbishment). The content of my posts will not be prescribed but naturally wine will feature pretty heavily (along with a little AFL, education, family, friends and other beings). I’ll also share my thoughts on some wines as they splash from glass to gullet. It may not be pretty, it will probably be rough, but new beginnings have to start somewhere……
From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There’s nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends.
‘Dedicatory Ode’
Hilaire Belloc – British poet, essayist, historian, novelist and politician