DISCOVER CARILLION’S AWARD-WINNING WINES (AND AMAZING VIEWS) AT TALLAVERA GROVE

Small is

BEAUTIFUL

Award-winning boutique producer Carillion Wines creates elegant, small-batch wines from grapes grown on its three family-owned and operated vineyards.

WORDS JESS VERRENDER Whether you are sitting perched up on the hill overlooking the rolling green hills of Tallavera Grove Vineyard, or perhaps bundled up inside its rustic little cellar door, Carillion Wines in the Hunter Valley is a place of quiet beauty, somewhere to relax, unplug and tune into nature while enjoying a high-quality glass of wine. Recently marked as "outstanding” and of “exemplary quality and typicity” by Australia’s most comprehensive wine authority, Carillion is proud to have been recently awarded five red stars by the 2023 Halliday Wine Companion, an annual overview of Australian wine which (since 2000) has been considered one of the nation’s most trusted guides to wineries and wines. Not bad for a small, family-owned and operated business. Established in 1994, the team is led by Tim Davis, second-generation owner and vigneron, and Andrew Ling, head winemaker. Tim grew up with grapes and has always had an interest in wine, and took an undergraduate degree in agricultural economics at the University of Sydney, majoring in economics, agricultural economics and finance. He then completed his PhD thesis in wine marketing and demand-modelling, but chose to work at the Reserve Bank of Australia in finance. While he enjoyed his work, Tim’s heart was on the land. As he was still involved with the running of the family business, regularly working on brands Tallavera Grove, Carillion and Stonefields, in 2012 he decided to apply his full attention to winemaking.

Andrew was living in Bathurst when he was lured back to Mudgee to pursue his interest in soccer. It was there that he secured a job in a wine laboratory as a lab assistant. Funnily enough, at the time, Andrew didn’t even drink wine. Over the years however, wine became Andrew’s passion and career. He worked for many well-known estates including Logan Wines, Robert Oatley Vineyards and Pepper Tree Wines, where he met Tim. The two recognised a like-mind, so when Tim took over at Carillion, he invited Andrew to join him in the new venture. Producing premium boutique wines in small-batch, their range includes traditional styles and French varieties, as well as Italian varieties that are very well suited to the chosen vineyard climates. Fruit is sourced from family-owned vineyards in three locations: the Hunter Valley in NSW, Orange in NSW and Wrattonbully in South Australia. There are three ranges – Expressions, Origins and Lovable Rogue, Carillion's Italian range. Carillion’s cellar door, run by Neil Langdon, is co-located with Bistro Molines at the beautiful Tallavera Grove Vineyard. Set on 150 acres, one of the special features of the vineyard is the diversity of soil types, elevation and aspect. Vines grow on terra rossa clay loams on limestone, red duplex loams over marly shales or alluvial brown loams on the creek flats. With Carillion wine sourced from this very special place, wine lovers can sit at the cellar door and “taste” the view. As a boutique producer of premium fruit from a range of climates, soil types and grape varieties, Carillion’s brand manager Bernadette Kerr says that they can quite literally take “the pick of the bunch” to create their wines. “We manage our vineyards with a hands-on approach, often identifying individual rows or portions of rows to pick for small batches of wine,” she says. “Most of our range is limited to 150 to 250 cases each vintage, with some releases as rare as 250 bottles.” Carillion’s 2018 ‘Fenestella’ Hunter Valley Shiraz is a flagship Hunter Valley wine. The year 2018 is well known for being a particularly good season for red wine in the Hunter, and ‘Fenestella’ received an incredible 97 points from the Halliday Wine Companion. It is currently available from the cellar door for tasting and sales. There is also a gold-medal-winning 2021 Hunter Valley Vermentino currently on offer, available for tasting and sale at cellar door. Carillion offers tastings, wines by the glass and sales. Tastings are $10 per person, waived with any purchase. Book by phone, 02 4990 7535, or email cellardoor@carillionwines.com.au