Boutique Beckels' beautiful bounty
There's no cellar door, and no illusions of fame and fortune either.
Instead, they have a picturesque property at Broke that has required a good amount of TLC, and just under five acres of vines that they've planted themselves.
But Ian and Rebecca Bower are more than content, happily living their winemaking dream with their fledgling label, Beckels Vineyard.
"We were interested in buying a rural property, and we had always gravitated to wine regions," Ian said.
"You can have the weight of the world on your shoulders, and somehow it just melts away when you drive through vineyards.
"And we'd always loved Broke, so when this place came on the market, it was just the right fit."
That was seven years ago, and the fact it had some infrastructure - a house and a shed - in need of a significant spruce-up made it ideal.
"Rebecca and I are active people, and we needed a project," Ian said.
"In the process of doing the place up, we thought some vines near the front gate would make it look a bit nicer, so we planted shiraz. That's where it started.
"Now, with the help of the family, we've planted four-and-a-half thousand vines, close to five acres."
Today they have a small but slowly growing list of members, have four varieties planted - shiraz, chardonnay, fiano and barbera - sell some fruit, and have their wines popping up in pubs, clubs and restaurants.
"Lake Macquarie Yacht Club is our largest customer, but places like Caves Coastal Bar, Modus Merewether, Marks Point Sports Club and The Lambton Fridge all stock our wines. Mostly we sell online through our website (beckelsvineyard.com.au)."
With Dan Binet making the wines, they're producing up to 250 cases of each of their varietals.
"We have the capacity to produce more - we're on 35 acres, so there's plenty of room for more vines - but we want to take things slowly," Ian said.
"We have other business interests, and while this started as a lifestyle project on a property we've come to love, it's now really gained momentum."
Aside from the straight varietals, they're also doing a rosé made from barbera, and a sparkling chardonnay, with prices quite moderate, ranging from $26 to $34.
"We're happy making the best wines we can in a style that we like to drink ourselves," Rebecca added.
"We've also just released our first Barbera, which we're excited about. It's such an easy drinker.
"The bottom line is no shortcuts to ensure the best quality fruit. We spend so much time monitoring our vines . . . it's crazy, they're treated like royalty."
"We have a great location overlooking the chardonnay vines with the mountain backdrop that would work. Or maybe a mobile set-up that we move to different spots around the property.
