A PASSION FOR WINE …

"You gotta have passion for what you do, love and passion. Wine is tied to enjoyment. There is a social structure to wine. When you pull out the cork, it starts a conversation. The best conversations are over food and wine. Creating my wines has been a labour of absolute love." Allan Dyson.

As a teenager, Allan joined a McLaren Vale Winery in South Australia. One day in the back of a cellar he found a barrel on its own. "I pulled out the bung and smelt it. And the smell was absolutely magnificent. I whacked the cork back and went back to what I was doing. But it started nagging at me..... Whatever was in that barrel and why the bloody hell did it smell so good?" Allan Dyson set out to find out why.

The barrel contained Cabernet Sauvignon. Not surprisingly Cabernet Sauvignon was the very first grape variety planted when he began his vineyard in 1976, followed by Chardonnay and, after some experimentation with Sauvignon Blanc, the third variety, Voignier, was chosen.

Why did Allan start making wine? An image kept recurring in his mind. The image was of a small vineyard on a slope. The picture just would not go away. So he realised in his teens that he loved viticulture and that winemaking was the only thing he wanted to do. He wanted to create that vineyard from the picture inside his head.

He named the Cabernet after his grandmother, Clarice. When Allan speaks of her, it is not hard to see why. "She was a lovely old woman, a very deep strong woman and you could have a bit of fun with her. If we ever got into strife we'd head for her."

Allan has spent the last 30 years realising that vision like a sculptor, one vine at a time, building his knowledge, perfecting his vineyard and his wine-making methods to create rich, subtle true varietal flavours in his wines. Dyson Wines' priorities are not high volume and market share; Allan is the viticulturist, the winemaker, the bottler, the face at the Cellar Door. The vineyard is only 15 acres. It has been Allan's personal crusade to take care of the land, nurture the soil, care for the vines, and make honest true tasting wines in the traditional way.