Gippsland Wine A VINTAGE COLLECTION Company

It is a far cry from growing up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne to being the creator and overseer of a diverse, multi-faceted winemaking operation in Gippsland based in Loch. Mark Heath’s working journey has taken him to the renowned wine regions of the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Yarra Valley, but it is in his present capacity as the vigneron of the Gippsland Wine Company that all the fruits of his experience and passion for viticulture and viniculture are being harvested to the full.

Mark began his career in the wine industry in the mid 1970s when he enrolled in the first ever hospitality training course offered at William Angliss Institute and a section on wine sparked his interest. The industry experience required by the course had him knocking on the door of a local bottle shop with a great reputation and Mark reflects that it set him “on the pathway to a long career in the wine industry.” He had found his first niche and upon completion of his course, he decided to return to the shop to work full time. As it turned out, the little local store was one of the top ten wine shops in Australia during the 1970s.

Mark was drawn to work more closely with the wine industry, and he accepted a position with the Barossa Valley-based Tollana Wines.

“The position was Melbourne-based and at ground-floor entry level within their business, but it enabled me to learn all about the industry,” he says. “I was travelling backwards and forwards between Melbourne and the Barossa Valley during my three years at Tollana, and it was a great learning curve.”

Over the next several years Mark gained expertise and knowledge working with other wine industry legends Taylors Wines in South Australia’s Clare Valley and Seppelts at Great Western before working for Fergusson Winery in the Yarra Valley.

“Back then in the early 80s, the wine industry in the Yarra Valley was much like what Gippsland is now, in that it was not heavily commercialised,” he states.

Having built his career working for some of the most iconic wine establishments in Australia, Mark harboured a strong desire to one day own and operate his own winery business.

“It was something I had thought about for probably twenty years,” he estimates.

With the support of his partner Jane, Mark targeted Gippsland as the region in which to realise his dream.

“We took the plunge and made the move in 2009 by taking out a threeyear lease on a small vineyard at The Gurdies to get the feel for how it all worked,” he recalls. “Then an opportunity came up to buy the property on the South Gippsland Highway in Loch where we created Loch Village Vineyard and Cellar Door as the home base of our Gippsland Wine Company business.”