Tallagandra Hill Winery owners talk about their time on the property. Video supplied

The Canberra Times

Transcript

00:00So Dave and Mary, you've owned Tallagandra Hill Winery for about a decade now.

00:10At the time, you were city folk living in inner Sydney.

00:15What inspired you to buy a vineyard?

00:18So look, we saw the vineyard and just absolutely fell in love with it.

00:22There's a huge amount of potential that we saw at the time and we just thought, why not?

00:28I think just loads of potential, a whole new challenge, and for us, it also took us much

00:34closer to family.

00:38Your cellar door is very inviting.

00:41Can you tell us what contribution your cellar door operations make to the overall business?

00:46So the cellar door really forms just one part of the overall business?

00:51Yeah, we have, we've built it around multiple revenue streams, which is why we've created

00:57major events and obviously lots of music events.

01:01We've put accommodation on site, so there are multiple different customer experiences,

01:06which at the same time gives us a chance to build resilience into the business.

01:13So since you moved here nine years ago, you've essentially turned what was half of a very

01:20big farm shed into an incredible event space for weddings, live music and other events.

01:28Can you tell us more about the venue on site?

01:31Yeah, so when we arrived here, the space was a very large shed that was predominantly used

01:38for winemaking, but we could see the potential that the space had, where we could create

01:44something amazing, where people could come and have life-changing events, weddings, concerts

01:51where we raise the roof, just a really amazing space.

01:55Yeah, and it's about having somewhere that's heritage and yet contemporary with a little

02:01sprinkle of magic about it, I guess was the idea.

02:05And then we've been able to attract some amazing musicians as examples of people who've been

02:10here, like Jimmy Barnes and Kate Sobrano and The Waves and Troy Cassidaly and a whole

02:15bunch of others.

02:17So yeah, we've been doing about 30 music shows and almost as many private events per year

02:22and it's been a great experience and a great business opportunity, actually.

02:26And the venue has been the backdrop to some amazing weddings, you know, we've been lucky

02:32to be part of people's love stories.

02:40But just in time to see your rosy-lipped flowers navigate.

02:51Yeah, it's really exciting.

02:53It's so exciting for us, actually, that the vineyard is as healthy as it is at the moment.

03:00We've been working hard over many years with an organic nutrient program to make the vines

03:05happy and healthy and productive.

03:08And we're producing fruit this year that is really outstanding, which is exciting for

03:14everyone in the district, actually.

03:18And it's led us to be able to, in the last few years in particular, to have several award-winning

03:25wines that we're very proud of, four trophies and I think it's now something like 40 medals

03:31for our wines, which is a great sort of underpinning of what we stand for at Tullianga Hill.

03:46As we look around the property, we see some really stunning artworks.

03:50Can you tell us about the artwork collection you've developed since you moved in nine years ago?

03:57Well, it's evolved, obviously, but when we arrived, I think we saw the place as a blank

04:04canvas, actually, and we wanted to be able to populate that canvas with some amazing

04:11expressions of art.

04:13And we've been fortunate to partner with a lot of local artists to create some amazing

04:18sculptures and other features around the property.

04:22There are lots of heritage features here that we're kind of proud of as well.

04:27So, yeah, it was about creating an environment that felt more than just a rural environment.

04:34It's a place of art and a place of expression.

04:41You have a beautiful home on the property and a very short commute.

04:45Tell us about the kind of lifestyle living here affords you.

04:50I think, you know, it's hard to describe how much we love this place, actually.

04:55And some of that is the colour and the mood and the changing seasons, the watching things

05:01grow.

05:03And some of it is about the community, the local community, our neighbours, gathering

05:10people together and having an incredible experience here.

05:14Yeah, even after nine years of living here, every time I drive through the front gate,

05:19I still think, wow, how lucky are we to be here?

05:23And it's not only somewhere where we live, but we also get to work here.

05:27We have some amazing customers.

05:29We've made wonderful friends.

05:30And we're really on the doorstep of Canberra.

05:33So we have everything.

05:34You know, we have the city less than 30 minutes away.

05:37So it's pretty, it's a good spot to be.

05:40It's a great spot.

05:45So clearly, Mary and David, you love this place.

05:50So why sell and why now?

05:54I think the first thing is after nine years, it's actually time to pass the baton, as it were.

06:02I think, you know, we've taken things to a level that we're very proud of and that we

06:10think is highly sustainable into the future.

06:14But we know that other people could come in now and do things that we've only just started

06:21to do, actually, and increase the business and grow the business probably two or threefold

06:26beyond what it is at the moment.

06:29And then beyond that, we have a fundamental need to spend more time with family,

06:37both here and in Ireland.

06:40And that's kind of the real driver for the decision at the moment.

06:45So we actually bought a guest house in Ireland, not far from where I grew up,

06:51in a little village called Rustraver in the north of Ireland.

06:55And we want to spend just some more time there.

06:58We've got to a stage where we want to have time with family.

07:01And it's that old saying where you can't have everything, but you actually can.

07:06But the thing is you may not be able to have it all at the one time.

07:09So we had to make a decision.

07:11And the decision is that we'll move on from here, hand the reins over to someone else

07:18so that they can bring this to the potential we saw at the very beginning.

07:22We've started up that hill, and we just need to do it.

07:26And, you know, right back here in the Canberra region, we're going to be here, right?

07:32No, no.

07:34And most of the year will be spent around here.

07:37We'll be chasing grandkids around.

07:40And we've both got some interesting creative and business pursuits

07:45that we're plotting on at the moment.

07:48So watch out.

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