A few weeks ago, I realised a life’s ambition to win a trophy at the Sydney Royal wine show - the most prestigious in Australia, featuring the best of the best around the country - and I did it for Grenache, my passion project for the last 10 years. Fruit from vines we planted on a site I carefully selected, then personally pruned, plucked, thinned and otherwise obsessively tended. Wine that I dreamt about making, researched and experimented with as I waited for the vines to mature. The best is yet to come!

Chief of Judges Sarah Crowe, Winemaker at Yarra Yerring and a Winemaking hero of mine wrote “for a Mudgee Grenache to not only claim Best Grenache but to be a strong contender for best red is outstanding”.  

I’m lucky to be as excited by grape growing and wine making as I was when I started in the industry as a refugee from the world of politics in Canberra. I’m still learning. Still experimenting. Still perfecting my craft. 

I’m lucky to be surrounded and supported by exceptional people - from my wife Nicky to Paul Baguley our vineyard consultant, and the fabulous team past and present in the vineyard, winery and office.

I was told I would never have children, but I’m lucky to be trying to write this over the din of my two beautiful boys tormenting each other. I’m also lucky to be able to balance my passion with spending proper time with them, coaching their sporting teams, teaching ethics at their school.

I fell 4m off a ladder in the winery at vintage in 2013. It should have killed me. The head injury robbed me of my sense of smell - which for a winemaker felt like a tragedy of Grecian proportions - and at my lowest it felt like a kind of death. But 11 years on, I am lucky to be making better wine than ever. My palate has heightened, my focus on texture and structure sharpened and I’ve retrained my brain to recognise aromas. I’ve also had the support of a series of extraordinary assistant winemakers (Lester, Gavin and Derek) who have been my surrogate nose and so very much more.

Last year I achieved another lifetime goal and managed to get my handicap down to single figures. Not bad for an old fella with a dodgy back and a lifetime of bad habits. Golf is a rare form of torture, but I submit to it gladly... my remaining goal is a hole-in-one on the course. Who knows? After all, I’m a lucky man. 

Thank you for buying our wine and for supporting us. For all my luck and gratitude, it’s an extremely tough industry to be in, and these are challenging times for all small businesses. Every purchase, every time you share a bottle of Huntington with a friend or recommend a visit to our cellar door, every lovely email and letter you write makes a difference to us. Cheers to luck, and cheers to you.