June 8th, 2020In from the cold to pick up a double
Loïque Allain and Chris Dilworth were settling in for a quiet night in Hepburn while keeping an eye on the streaming of national wine awards, when up came their names.
They thought they had a chance for Best New Act in the competition – and there it was.
Just then there was a knock at the door and, as they held their four-year-old and 18-month-old, there stood a messenger with the trophy.
Flabbergasted, the husband-and-wife team invited their visitor in for a cuppa, but she declined, saying she had to get back to Melbourne.
After settling the trophy in an appropriate place, they watched more awards when up came their names again, this time as the top Young Gun. Again there was a doorknock – for only the second time in 14 years a winemaker had won two of the five awards.
Dilworth & Allain is the name of their three-year-old label. They make a riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir from three vineyards, one of which they help farm organically.
The award’s founder, Rory Kent, said, “Loïque and Chris are a husband and wife team that do everything from farming and making truly exceptional wines, right through to the artwork that adorns the labels.”
According to Kent, Macedon may be one of Australia’s coldest regions but it is now white hot, with four makers in the top 50.
For Dilworth & Allain to win in their first year of entering was “phenomenal”, he said.
Chris, 37, had an early introduction to wine. His parents owned a restaurant in Willoughby in Sydney before buying a farm in Belford, in the Hunter Valley. Straight out of school he worked for legendary Hunter Valley chef Robert Molines in Pokolbin, before serving in restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and London.
An interest from his Pokolbin days led him to study viticulture and winemaking in Adelaide. His career took him back to the Hunter Valley, then the Mornington Peninsula, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Tasmania, Tuscany and Burgundy.
His time in Tuscany changed his outlook. He saw a vineyard that had been farming organically since the early 90s, and then using biodynamic methods at the end of that decade.
“There is significant exploration in the cellar using different techniques and vessels and the wines are allowed to be expressive and reflective,” he says
Loïque, 33, is an artist whose parents are also artists. Graduating in fine arts, she undertook study trips through her homeland France, and to Italy. A love of wine led to vintage work in the McLaren Vale.
After a time in France, they moved to Hepburn when local Owen Latta offered Chris work at Eastern Peake in Coghills Creek, overlooking the Creswick Valley.
Says Chris, “Our philosophy has been to make wines that we would love to drink, wines that have a sense of place and are able to tell a story. We seek to make wine that is refreshing and interesting, allowing time for maturation and evolution in the cellar.
“We believe in producing wines that are un-fined, unfiltered, using natural yeasts and with sulphur being the only additive along the way.”
They make only 400 dozen bottles a year.
Loïque said their triumph was a boost for the region.
Now their dream is their own vineyard. “We’re going in that direction,” she says.
“Our philosophy has been to make wines that we would love to drink, wines that have a sense of place and are able to
tell a story.”
Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Contributed
