THE CALL OF THE VINEYARD By Melissa Walsh Photos: Yanni
I
t’s a crisp spring afternoon when I meet winemaker David Lloyd at his winery, Eldridge Estate, and he has just freshened up after working in the winery since the early hours of the morning.
Tall, dark and well-educated, this scientist-turned-winemaker is straight down the line, assuring me that running a vineyard is not as glamorous as one might think, but it does have its upside. Born in South Australia, David says his interest in winemaking has long been a family joke around dinner tables. “You see it was my family that set me on this road many years ago. When I was a baby to shut me up mum and dad would dip my pacifier in Hardys Black Bottle Brandy, a taste I got used to very quickly,” he says with a laugh. “So I was always into wine. Even when I was at University there was a wine club and I just got more and more into it.” Reminiscing about the first wine he ever made, David admits he had a lot to learn. “It was in the mid-70s, a Rutherglen cabernet sauvignon which I would describe as eminently forgettable,” he says with a laugh. “My second was a Coonawarra cabernet which was very drinkable. I put it in a wine show with big producers like Wolf Blass and it got a bronze medal. I rang up the grape grower and told him an
E ssence
88 | PENINSULA
November 2016