Tims Ravings

At the risk of being labelled an optimist, I want to declare that there has never been a more exciting time to be a winemaker in Australia than right now.

Social media is an absolute sewer. It breeds fear, anxiety and division. To say it brings out the worst in our society is an understatement. 

One of the perks of being a winemaker is that you get to travel to some of the most beautiful wine regions on Earth. And it's tax free!

Huntington Estate founder, Robert (Bob) Roberts (1934-2026) died peacefully, with his beloved wife Wendy by his side in February of this year.

A proposed lead, zinc and silver mine in the Mudgee region is a risk to our livelihood.

VINTAGE. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I was reminiscing with my boys about playing Pong on our tiny black and white television set when I was their age. “Mmmm” they said, uninterested and unimpressed, then went back to killing things, and 'stealing brain rots'?! on their personal devices with their impossibly sharp, colorised, touch screens. 

I am about to celebrate 20 years as custodian of Huntington Estate. 2005 seems both like yesterday and forever ago, as is the way. More like forever ago when I look at the old photos (those hideous noughties jeans, my long, flowing locks...) and my rapidly growing boys - the eldest of whom is about to turn 14. It's only recently however, that I feel I have fully found my feet - just as well, as I am now the last man standing from the changeover.

The most common question winemakers are asked is, “What is your favourite wine”. Every winemaker I have met is passionate about wine from other regions but, being a humble race, our response is invariably, “My own”. 

I’m a lucky man, and as my 20th Huntington Vintage begins, I’m counting my blessings. 

Tim talks about Huntington Estates Autumn 24 New Releases

The parched winter of ‘23 culminated in bushfires. The forecast of El Niño with drought, heatwaves and more fires were too easy to believe. We carefully watered the vines and didn’t plant a mid-row cover crop – it was just too dry.

I've got whiplash. This time last year we were knee-deep in water (literally). Now it's dry as a bone, and we've already had a heatwave.

One of things I most enjoy at Huntington Estate is making a diverse range of wines. Most regions can produce one or two particular styles but in Mudgee we are blessed with an all-rounder set of terroirs with each excelling according to the increasing capriciousness of seasons.

Finding the right block of dirt for the right grape variety is a maddeningly cryptic undertaking.

Finding the right block of dirt for the right grape variety is a maddeningly cryptic undertaking.

Cold, wet, an unbelievably slow ripening period, very drawn out, and possibly the greatest Mudgee red wine vintage ever...

No two seasons are the same, but 2023 has been 'extra' different so far! We've had a bit of everything this year, culminating in the latest pick dates I've seen in 26 years here. 

Last year, still scarred by the drought, I told myself I’d never get sick of the rain, whatever havoc it wrought. While I worried about disease in the vineyard, I revelled in the green, I wrote about the earth healing, yada yada yada…

So, there I was sitting in a private room at a fancy Canberra restaurant in 1993 with Len Evans and Brian Croser, among other famous wine industry dignitaries, having a merry time drinking their wines, most of which were 20 to 30 years old and today would be worth thousands.

I have a new weapon in my battle with insomnia. Deleting and blocking the endless stream of junk emails that arrive in my inbox, obscuring the messages I actually need to see. It's like popping bubble wrap or peeling glue off your fingers... repetitive, mindless, almost meditative. I say almost, because after a while it gets me thinking.

Australian red wines - Shiraz in particular - have traditionally been big, hairy chested and macho. 

A few decades ago this was a reflection of the country's psyche - wanting to prove ourselves unique to the rest of the world. Think Paul Hogan and Jack Thompson. But then along came Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue - followed by Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman. We became more comfortable in our skins. We were becoming a more vibrant and diverse lot.