A winery that opened at Bethanga in January has already secured an order from China for 50,000 bottles of its Posh Plonk.
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Matt Daly and his partner Karen Crook said a last-minute decision to attend Sydney’s Good Food & Wine Show in June saw their relatively new venture taste immediate success overseas.
A Chinese company was so “wrapped” with Posh Plonk’s distinctive packaging, it promptly ordered 50,000 bottles in time for the 2018 New Year celebrations.
It’s been a whirlwind ride for the couple whose only previous experience with wine was drinking it.
But when Matt was looking to lure Karen from Melbourne back to his hometown, she jokingly suggested nothing less than a winery on the lake would do it.
A chance drive past a picturesque property on Lake Road at Bethanga several years back was to set in motion a fairytale chain of events.
“We saw this place and fell in love so Matt went up to the house, knocked on the door and the owners invited us in,” Karen recalled.
The rest, as they say, is history with an arrangement made (quite possibly over a glass or two of wine) for the couple to pay off the deposit to be able to purchase their dream property.
Matt, Karen and their daughter Taylor, 6, had their first taste of harvest in 2015 and have since set about developing the Posh Plonk brand that already has more than 5000 followers on Facebook and Instagram.
The wine has found a place at the tables of some of the region’s top restaurants including Border Wine Room, Atura and QT at Falls Creek.
There are plans for a cellar door (with a difference) by Christmas and Cofield Wines is on board to help the winery keep up with demand.
“We have amazing local growers with amazing quality fruit and winemakers Damien (Cofield) and Brendan (Heath) have been incredibly consultative,” Matt said.
The family now calls Bethanga home after spending 2016 commuting “from our corporate lives” back to the vineyard every weekend to prune, spray, mow and tend to “our babies”.
And while Karen still spends three days a week working away in the aviation industry, she loves nothing more than curling up next to Matt with a glass of their own sparkling or red and enjoying a dream come true – a posh paradise with a view.
- MORE: Out and About in The Border Mail, August 25