The hills run red – Eat Drink West

CLOCKING over twenty years of practice, during that time winery owners Tom and Sarah Guthrie have seen the Great Western region bear the fruit of many of their award-winning drops.

With their roots in sheep farming, Mr Guthrie said the couple initially opened Grampians Estate Winery as a means of diversifying their business.

“In 2006, we got burnt out in the Grampians bush fire, and a couple of years later we had the opportunity to buy the Garden Gully vineyard and cellar door at Great Western,” he said.

“The first vines of the vineyard we purchased were originally planted in 1878, so there’s a lot of history here in this region and it’s great to be a part of it.

“Now we’re running two vineyards and the cellar door at Great Western which is the heart of cool climate shiraz in Victoria.”

Having opened a new cellar door earlier this year, Mr Guthrie said winery underwent major developments to include a café, an inside area and a deck set against the vines.

“We were ready to start at Easter and of course the lockdown came so we had this fancy new building, a wonderful menu and no people,” he said.

“What we are trying to do at our winery café is celebrate and showcase regional produce.

“We have a farm pie which is lamb from our own farm and the pies made by Great Western Granary which uses Grampians Estate shiraz, a pasta which has been infused with the pressings from our grenache and a shiraz ice cream by Timboon.”

Stocked predominantly around Western Victoria, locals can find a bottle of the Grampian’s finest at pubs, cafes and retailers in and around Ballarat.

Having scored a series of trophies and awards for the vineyard’s labels, Mr Guthrie said because of the location winery is best at producing in great tasting red varieties.

“Shiraz is what the Great Western and Grampian regions are known for, what we have is a medium bodied, lighter, more elegant style of shiraz that’s made us internationally known,” he said.

“We also have sparkling shiraz which is an Australian invention, we also do riesling and chardonnay and with the warming of the climate, we are also trialling other varieties like grenache and a tempranillo.

“We have quite a range of wines including sparkling and fortified but obviously being here in this region, we’re certainly better known for our reds.”

Although this year hasn’t been the most successful or finically plentiful, Mr Guthrie said he’s looking forward to not just welcoming customers to the cellar door but to making more, great wine.

“Over the years, we have had the opportunity to make some good wine, seen the industry change and so the business has grown too,” he said.