Raising a glass to Mother Nature

RENOWNED Australian contemporary artist Jimmy Dvate has completed a mural at Domaine Asmara winery at Toolleen.

Painted on the front wall of the distilling shed, the work features two native birds; a male fairy wren and a flame robin.

“Both birds are frequent visitors to the area,” said winery owner Andreas Grieving. “We thought they would be appropriate, a tribute to Mother Nature.”

Grieving’s said his philosophy is, “We let Mother Nature do its work; the less interference, the better.”

“After seeing the artwork on the Rochester silos, I contacted the artist,” he said.

“He is very busy and initially it was going to be nine months until he could start but after another project was postponed, he was able to paint our shed.”

Dvate, formally trained in graphic design and visual arts at Monash University, began painting graffiti and street art in Melbourne in 1997.

He now specialised in large scale public murals and his work can be seen all over Australia and the world.

Mr Grieving and his wife Henni bought the vineyard in 2009 and their wines have won many awards.

A year ago, they purchased gin distilling equipment and took out prizes with their first batches.

“The spirits side of our business is taking off very nicely,” said Mr Greiving. “There has been a growth in spirits popularity and at the moment we are selling more gin than wine.

“We are planning to branch out into other varieties in the near future.

“I hope visitors will enjoy seeing our mural when they come to our winery. We offer free wine and spirit tastings and a tour of the distillery.”