Gracedale Hills Estate

Dr Richard Gutch established 1.2ha of chardonnay and 2ha of shiraz at a time when most would be retiring from active business, but it represents the culmination of a lifelong love of fine wine, and Richard has no hard feelings towards me - it was I who encouraged him, in the mid-1990s, to plant vines on the north-facing slopes of his property. Here, too, the grapes have been sold to others, but he now retains sufficient grapes to make around 300 dozen a year. In 2007 a purpose-built gravity-feed winery was built to reduce the amount of travelling, handling and processing of the fruit for the estate-grown wines. -JAMES HALLIDAY