Sellicks Hill

Paul Petagna lays it on the line thus: ‘I never went to university, I've never been to Europe for vintage, my science knowledge extends to bucket measurements, I don't even have a wine rack let alone a cellar, I drive a beat-up old faithful land cruiser called “the pig” … All I have is a shovel, a small basket press, great advisers, and a bag full of passion. I'm just an average Aussie bloke making wine in his shed …' His introduction to wine was, to put it mildly, unusual. It came about during his time working at Magill Estate for Southcorp, Penfolds et al, as an in-house IT trainer. His summary of their first days picking for backyard winemaking is equally catching - ‘We drove the well and truly overloaded old HZ ute down the hill, with the back end swaying and tyres bulging along, with a floating steering wheel that didn't seem to be of much assistance at times.' His winemaking back up at that stage, and continuing for many years thereafter, was Modestino ‘Steve' Piombo. It was he who, together with Paul, oversaw the first red wine fermentation taking place. It was his family that purchased (as bare land) what was to become Sellicks Hill vineyard. Paul explains, ‘Once the property was purchased, I settled in as the resident “human tractor”, used for laying out kilometres of wire, dripper hose, posts, plumbing and all the other paraphernalia used to construct a vineyard. We literally built the vineyard and began working it without a tractor and/or much equipment at all'. This is part of a true Australian Story, but space prevents the telling more of it. -JAMES HALLIDAY