Friday, 26th July ....

Marilyn and I have embarked on a new adventure.  We’ve acquired an interest in Deloraine Fruit Wines, a wine maker here in Deloraine and will be learning the skills of making and marketing specialty wines.  The business has been operating for a number of years and has good local markets but needs an injection of enthusiasm and energy to expand.

The company makes a range of fruit wines: raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, apricot and plum, among others.  The fruit is all sourced locally and the wine is made without additives or preservatives.    There are over 2000 litres of wine in the vats, almost ready for bottling, and we’re keen to get that lot out of the way so we can start a new batch.  Clearly, most of the fruit becomes available in the summer, but we’re looking at other options, like cider, boutique beer and even grape wine.

The winery is a large shed, with very good equipment.  Rainwater is collected from the roof, filtered and used in the production.  There’s a two-bedroom unit on the block which Marilyn and I will use. The name of the company will be changed to Tasmanian Specialty Wines to reflect the new management.

It’s a niche product so we don’t expect to make a million dollars but it will be fun.  It doesn’t need constant attention so we’ll be able to continue our travel and it might even be able to fund an occasional cruise.  Work starts this weekend to finish off the existing wine and we can’t wait.