Eventually, you’ll end up where you need to be, with who you’re meant to be with, and doing what you should be doing. Patience is the key.
Growing up as a child I think Michael would have never pictured his life as it is today.
When I first met Michael when I moved to the Barossa Valley in 1999, he did not consume wine and his friends didn’t consume wine either. Not long after we had been together, he wanted to see what I was passionate about and what drew me to move to the Barossa Valley.
After three months Michael had forgotten about whatever other beverages he used to enjoy, and we headed to the Coonawarra for a short stay in the Southeast.
We visited every winery open then and started to put together spreadsheets of tasting notes and a shopping list. Michael was hooked and I don’t think he took much convincing.
Michael soon wanted to branch out his opportunities and get into working closer to a winemaking role and working alongside peers in the wine industry.
By 2005 Michael and I were engaged and before our wedding later that year we thought we would start our first vintage and label Yelland & Papps.
Living in the township of Greenock at the time after purchasing our own house, we decided after five vintages of our wines being contract made, that it just wasn’t for us. We wanted the vineyard, the winery, the dream, funny enough with the dream came the abundant financial weight of starting our own winemaking facility.
2010 came the year that was going to make or break us, and we purchased Nuraip Road, with a two-and-a-half-year-old and an 8-week-old baby. The 2010 vintages were hard with a lot of buckets, shovelling and a one-tonne-hour crusher. Michael at the time was doing vintage at another Barossa winery, he worked days and then we made Yelland & Papps wines at night.
The early days were full of excitement, tiredness, juggling kids, and being extremely green in the industry, we made mistakes, we learned, and we persisted to keep doing what we loved.
There is a confidence to back ourselves, believe in the wine style we are making and show the Barossa Valley our home in a reflection of our wines and hand in hand with the growing families we work closely with.
Michael today feels the journey is certainly still has a long way to go and there is a lot more to learn, pushing the boundaries and getting the best out of the fruit of the region.
Here’s to patience in the next twenty years.
– Susan Papps