Wimmera Hills

Jane and Benjamin Baker are both science graduates from Melbourne University; following his retirement from full-time IT consulting Benjamin took a short winemaking course at Dookie, and Jane studied winemaking at NMIT in Ararat, Vic. They have planted shiraz, and three generations of the Baker family work at the vineyard and winery. They say, ‘Our remote valley is a natural haven for echidnas, platypus, wedgetail eagles, poets, environmentalists, frogs and kangaroos.' It will thus come as no surprise to find that they endeavour to use sustainable practices in the vineyard, and up to the point of bottling the wine (unfiltered), they calculate the operation to be carbon neutral. The currently available 2007 Fire Engine Red Pyrenees Shiraz sells for $14 a bottle, $9 of which is donated to the Elmhurst Fire Brigade. -JAMES HALLIDAY