Meet the Makers – Seppelt Part 2
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Winemaker Clare Dry is a woman on the move – spending vintage careening between Seppelt’s Victorian vineyards, its Barossa winemaking facility, and (somehow), home with her husband and three daughters.
Born and bred in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Clare discovered her passion for winemaking before she was legally old enough to swallow a drop, during a work experience stint at a local winery. After leaving school, she completed two vintages – one in Mornington and one in Germany – before attacking her bachelor of Oenology at Adelaide University. A casual job at Wolf Blass during vintage led to a permanent contract for the new graduate, and ultimately, a role in the Blass winemaking team. She remained with Wolf Blass until November 2020, when she was appointed chief winemaker at Seppelt. That’s it, you’re all caught up! (although the long version is way more fun...)
CLARE DRY Part 2
WD: It’s not often that your first job lasts for 12 years. WineDown’s had whole careers that haven’t lasted that long....
CD: It was fantastic. A great team of people – and I had a wonderful mentor in Chris Hatcher.
(Hatcher is Chief winemaker at Wolf Blass)
WD: Any highlights you’d like to share?
CD: The team! Seriously, they were great: diverse opinions, different experiences, and it was truly collaborative – that was a real highlight for me. And we had some epic vintages. 2010 was just amazing... Um... getting nominated for Young Winemaker in 2013 was pretty good.
(The Wine Society’s Young Winemaker of the Year award)
WD: Not just nominated – you were a finalist.
CD: Yeah, that was fun! Actually, it was a really exciting time for me – I was pregnant with my first baby.
WD: That would have kept you quiet at the after party...
CD: A bit.
WD: You were nominated for a pretty decent Chardonnay as I recall...
(WineDown had some involvement with the Young Winemaker of the Year awards at that time.)
CD: Chardonnay is one of my fave... no, it actually IS my favourite variety to make. And at Blass they’d given me Adelaide Hills to look after... It was fantastic for me to be able to take hold of a region... a cool-climate region. Having grown up in Mornington, that’s what I’m used to, I love it.
WD: That’s lucky. So, you’re looking forward to winter in Henty, then.
(Henty is the home of Seppelt’s famous Drumborg vineyard. Winemakers describe the climate as ‘marginal’; wine marketers refer to it as ‘chilly’. To everyone else it’s just bloody freezing.)
CD: My secret weapon is Gore Tex.
WD: You’ll need it.
CD: It's an amazing place. Our vineyard manager Larry has been there for 26 years. He's salt of the earth, very, very dedicated – and he knows that vineyard inside out and gets the absolute best out of it every year, even though because of the climate it's a very marginal vineyard...
(told you!)
WD: What are you enjoying in your role at Seppelt?
CD: I'm loving having this incredible portfolio of wines to be in charge of. There’s great diversity… You're making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and Riesling from Drumborg... and then there’s the sparkling wines, the Grampians Shiraz and the Mt Ida Heathcote Shiraz... these pinnacles of premium wine that you're responsible for... and you get to make all the decisions... you've got that oversight of a whole brand. It’s like...
WD: Being the boss?
(a Dry laugh.)
CD: It’s pretty exciting.
WD: You’re not only a winemaker these days; you’re also custodian of a historic and much-loved brand. Is that a bit daunting – or is it the wind beneath your wings?
CD: It’s only a little bit scary. There’s the pressure of expectation, but mostly, it’s inspiring and exciting.
WD: There’s an impressive list of winemakers who have preceded you at Seppelt. Legends like Colin Preece, Pete Weste, and Ian (Macka) MacKenzie – and more recently, Adam Carnaby, who held the reins for almost a decade. How does it feel to be in that company?
CD: It’s pretty motivating... you certainly don’t want to be the weak link in the chain! But I really love what Adam Carnaby did at Seppelt over the past 10 years – pushing that cool-climate category in the portfolio. He did a great job, and I’m the lucky one who gets to build on that legacy...
WD: You’ve got a legacy of your own. Three kids, all under the age of seven. That must present some challenges...?
CD: I get incredible support. I've got an amazing husband. He's a viticulturist, and he's actually very successful...
(Nick Dry was Gourmet Traveller WINE’S Perpetual Viticulturist of the Year in 2019)
CD: ... but he stepped back from his job when our youngest turned two and started working part time as a consultant. I don't think you could be in an industry like this – especially during vintage – when you've got young children, unless you have someone to carry the burden at home. I'm so lucky that I don't have to worry about it. I wouldn't be able to do this job without having Nick’s support at home.
WD: Treasury Wine Estates has an impressive cohort of women winemakers, but women haven’t always enjoyed an easy ride in the wine industry. Have you ever encountered any resistance, simply because you’re a gal?
CD: You hear about discrimination happening, but I have to say that I personally haven't experienced anything like that.
WD: You’re a gender equality ambassador at Treasury Wine Estates...?
CD: Yes. I'm one of two lead ambassadors, and I’m pretty heavily involved with our gender equality program. I have to say that Treasury is really supportive of working mothers. I have uni friends who, when they started having kids, were told if you can’t come back full-time, don’t come back at all. But when I took the time out to have our kids, I was fully supported to come back part-time, and then step it up to full-time. It was just never a problem, which was a wonderful experience.
WD: Speaking of wonderful experiences, what’s the most memorable wine you’ve ever tasted?
CD: I’m not sure I want to say... I wouldn’t want people to think I’m just trying to promote it because it’s from the Treasury group...
WD: We trust you.
CD: OK. It was one of Kym Schroeter’s Bin A wines from the Adelaide Hills... 2008 I think – or maybe it was the 2009. Such an amazing wine – it really just had everything.
(Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2009, made by Kym Schroeter, was awarded ‘Best White Wine in the World’ at the 2011 International Wine Challenge.)
WD: Good pick.
CD: There was another one... It was a Bruno Colin Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot. Nick and I were on our honeymoon and we were in Burgundy and had a bottle of this at a restaurant in Beaune. It was amazing... I’m not one for normally remembering these kind of details... but that was a bloody good wine.
WD: This is probably a daft question since you’re barely six months into a new role, but what’s ahead for Clare Dry?
CD: I can't even think about a next chapter. I'm so happy right now to be working at Seppelt... it’s such an important brand historically in Australia. Why would you want to be doing anything else?