Carldenn Homestead Wines

Dennis and Carline Humphrey, together with their four children, have been long term residents of the Perth Hills. In the late 1970s they had an orchard and a commercial tomato patch on a northwest-facing slope; when neither the orchard nor tomatoes paid their way, the 0.5ha of land became vacant until (in Dennis' words) ‘I needed to grow something to help with paying off the mortgage'. With encouragement from then regional doyen Peter Fimmel, he close-planted 1000 chardonnay and 1000 semillon vines, plus 500 of merlot. Looking after the vineyard and the cellar door is now a full-time job for this industrial electrician, made more challenging by the 2010-11 drought. -JAMES HALLIDAY