“We love wine, we love to make it and we love to drink it!”
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East Gresford couple Daniel and Jane Maroulis have turned their passion into a thriving business, quietly making inroads into the wine making scene.
They own and operate Boydell's, producing premium estate wines from the grapes grown on their extensive property on the banks of the Allyn River.
“When people think wine in the Hunter Valley they automatically think of Pokolbin, not East Gresford,” said Daniel.
They have just bottled their 2018 Verdelho and Rose and a 2017 Shiraz and have previously won awards in local and state competitions – not bad for two relative novice wine makers.
Daniel previously farmed commodity crops in Narromine before they relocated to the Hunter.
“There’s a beauty in winemaking,” said Daniel.
“To have full control of growing the vines through to the bottling is something else.
“We are the only vineyard on the Allyn River and the altitude and soil type here means we can offer a really different flavour
“It’s quite a crisper, dry, aromatic wine and the floral notes are evident from the soil types.”
The idyllic property is proving the perfect playground to raise their four daughters – Winnie, 7, Nina and Maggie both 6 and baby Josie, 5 months.
They breed cattle and have recently added luxurious African safari styled tent accommodation which they hope will attract international visitors.
It took the couple almost 18 months to import the special canvas tent from Africa based on a similar one Dan’s brother has in Bourke.
Jane’s flair for interior design is evident throughout the suite.
The deck which overlooks the Allyn River valley is made from recycled printer cartridges and the deck lighting is all solar powered.
There’s gas hot water for the large copper bath and room to land a helicopter nearby.
The label and the sign to the estate is taken off a self portrait of Charles Boydell found in his journals in the State Library.
It’s a nod to the deep history of the property which was settled by Charles Boydell in 1826.
He and wine veteran Dr Henry Lindeman first established wine grape production in the area.
