It sounds like a wonderful dream. You give up your day job, sell your house and move lock, stock and barrel to the sun. You purchase and restore a neglected old property, re-establish the vineyards and make your very own delicious wine. However, the reality of realising this dream is quite different, involving a lot of risk, hard work and dogged determination.

Jane Wilson - Vet turned winemaker

Jane Wilson, is one of those who was brave enough to take the plunge. Born in Oban, she trained as a vet in Glasgow. However, after two years of work, she decided to head off to Australia in pursuit of a career change. She initially found work as a vet on horse-stud farms in the Hunter Valley, a prime wine growing region near Sydney.

Her lucky break came when she met Len Evans, one of the most important figures in the wine business in Australia, at a drinks party. She brazenly asked him if she could work at his winery in the Hunter Valley - and he agreed. Within two days, Wilson was working at Rothbury Winery. "It was a fantastic place to learn about grape-growing, as it has such a tricky marginal climate," she says. A few months on and she had fallen in love with Rothbury’s chief winemaker, David Lowe. The couple married soon after.

Jane and David left Rothbury in 1990 to set up their own winery. David’s parents owned an old farm in Mudgee, a little known area in the Blue Mountains, three hours drive from Sydney. Restoring the old family vineyard in 1995, they revived the Chardonnay vines and planted unusual varietals: Viognier, Shiraz, Merlot and Sangiovese.
Their wines are enchanting, all of them well made. Their greatest successes have been with Chardonnay and Semillon - served on the QE2 and on Quantas business class flights - and with Shiraz.

Jane was lucky to find a partner with such a solid wine training behind him when she embarked on her dream of making her own wine. David’s 23 years of experience as a winemaker at Rothbury made it easier for them to run their own business and the couple also work as vineyard or winemaking consultants for other clients.