It was during a lull in the sheep and wool market in the 80's that Tom Guthrie decided he needed to diversify from only producing Corriedale sheep, he tossed up between an olive grove, emu breeding, or a vineyard.
"I swung towards wine, because I figured if it fell apart, well, we could always drink it if we couldn't sell it," Mr Guthrie said.
He graduated with a bachelor in wine science at 67- years-old from Charles Sturt University, and he hasn't looked back since, despite many challenges.
"I always say, I was the only student in my class with a concession card, and a seniors card," he said.
With wife Sarah Guthrie they run Grampians Estate, their first vines were planted in 1989, and they've expanded to two vineyards located in Mafeking and Great Western, where their cellar door is also located.
"We've got eight acres of vineyard here, with Shiraz and Chardonnay, and 12 acres of Riesling and Shiraz at Great Western," Mr Guthrie said
One of their consistent challenges has been Mother Nature, as one third of their vineyard near Moyston was wiped out by bushfire in 2006.
"It was fifty-fifty whether we just dug a big hole and pushed it all in," Mr Guthrie said.
On the topic of climate change, he said during the last 30 years, picking days in south east Australia have moved backwards 30 days as a result of climate change, so to adapt they've recently added four acres of grape varieties that thrive in heat.
"What happens is, because the climate is warmer, the average temperature is warmer and the grapes reach ripeness earlier," Mr Guthrie said.
"We've had the lowest August rainfall here probably ever, September was almost the lowest ever, and October we had maybe an inch, it's definitely there.
"So we've planted climate change varieties, with a Grenache and Tempranillo, because they both love heat, so in 50 years time someones going to thank me for planting those," he said.
With a traditional label on many of their ranges with imagery of their surrounding landscapes, Ms Guthrie said it was during COVID-19 when their daughter Pollyanna worked on a re-brand to pay tribute to the Guthrie family history as primary producers.
"She could see it as a point of difference that Tom's family were in the sheep and wool industry for all those hundreds of years," Ms Guthrie said.
"And there was a cross over when the wine happened and there should be a cross over, and so that was where the line came from," Ms Guthrie said.
As a fourth-generation farmer, and descendent of sheep pioneers from the 1800's who undertook the longest recorded sheep drive in Australian history, continuing their family history with sheep was an important factor for Mr Guthrie.
He's since written a book documenting the family history, and the momentous droving effort of 11,000 sheep across 3,500 kilometres, the book is titled 'The Longest Drive'.
The new wine labels pay tribute back to the book as well, with The Longest Drive Tempranillo, and Field's Crossing Grenache, which is a location mentioned in the book.
Continuing family lines, succession was always an important part of the plan, with their son Ford passionate about farming and eager to take over the farm after high school.
In 2016, Ford completed agriculture in year 11 and intended to take his passion further.
As part of a major subject he successfully ran a flock of 200 sheep, from lambing through to sale and this became the natural future his life would lead to.
With the sheep stud's future cared for Mr Guthrie enrolled in the bachelor in wine science degree to further focus on his passion, but the very next year Ford passed away.
"The succession plan, was for Ford to take over the farm, and I would then leave him to it to take on 100 per cent of the wine business," Mr Guthrie said.
"When Ford died I wasn't sure if I would keep going.
"But throwing my passion into that sort of helped cope with losing Ford."
Almost eight years later, their nephew James Cusack now manages their Corriedales, and Mr and Ms Guthrie are still heavily involved.
"Fortunately my sisters son, and nephew James, grew up on a farm and always wanted to be a farmer, so he joined our family business and is basically running the sheep business while I continued on with our plan to take over the wine business," Mr Guthrie said.
"Our nephew had grown up on a farm and wanted to be a farmer."
"But this years he's getting a rude awakening on what can happen with prices in the market, and soon enough he'll get another with the weather I think."
Holly McGuinness
Holly is a journalist for Australian Community Media, covering South Coast, NSW. As a born and bred Shoalhaven local, she's passionate about covering community concerns and amplifying local voices. To get in contact, email holly.mcguinness@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Holly is a journalist for Australian Community Media, covering South Coast, NSW. As a born and bred Shoalhaven local, she's passionate about covering community concerns and amplifying local voices. To get in contact, email holly.mcguinness@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
