Richard & Alice Tallis

The launch of our new Blog is a very important step for Tallis Wine and we are looking forward to having some interesting conversations with you. Below is a brief outline of what we do and who we are ….

Happy blogging. Richard & Alice Tallis

Tallis Wine - We are a boutique winery located in the rich red Dookie Hills on the north eastern edge of Central Victoria, a region which was once at the forefront of Victoria’s wine industry. Our family owned business is committed to producing 100% estate grown, quality wines reflecting the unique Dookie ‘terrior’, warm climate and distinctive ancient red hills. These hills are similar to the Cambrian soils for which Heathcote is renowned.

By living and working on the property we can closely monitor the development of our vines, grapes and wines. Perhaps the most important thing we have learnt during our journey, is that our wine is grown in the vineyard and that the geology of this unique strip of hills is ideally suited to our premium wine varieties.

Our family has been part of the Dookie district for many years running traditional farming enterprises. The  wine journey began during 1998 and we now have 24 hectares of vines including shiraz, viognier, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese. It is exciting to see that, after a rich history of grape growing in the late 1800’s, this unique region of Dookie is once again producing quality wine. The Tallis Wine business is run in alongside traditional broadacre enterprises including wheat, canola, sheep and cattle.

We are committed to a low input sustainable system. Our viticultural practices demonstrate our respect for the environment and through adaptive and integrated management systems we are endeavouring to eliminate environmentally harmful sprays The Tallis philosophy of encouraging bio-diversity in the vineyard extends to the minimal use of additives in the winemaking process and wine storage in a purpose built environmentally sound straw bale barrel hall.

Our red wine is hand crafted in the property’s boutique winery by Richard Tallis and Tanya Blackmore. Each vintage, family and friends come together to pick the grapes which are then crushed and fermented in open vats. The juice is hand plunged and aged in French and American barriques.

We believe in putting back into the community and have been sponsoring and supporting community groups and charities, including the National Piano Awards, since our journey began in 1998.

OUR WINES

A wine for every taste. We currently have three ranges under the Tallis wine label: The Dookie Hills Range; The Worker’s Choice Range and the wines under The Silent Showman label.

The Dookie Hills Range is a varietal range of wines which reflect the region within which they are grown. With minimal intervention during the winemaking process these wines are true to variety and are uniquely “Dookie” in their regionality. These wines consistently represent excellent value for money.

The Worker’s Choice Range (Aptly named by George Tallis Age 12yrs) includes a selection of wines that the team who work at Tallis Wine, including Alice and Richard, were itching to make. It’s really our indulgence range as it is the wines we love to make… and drink. There are currently two sparkling wines in the range and one fortified, however early 2008 we plan to make a new addition to the range – a late harvest viognier. We can’t wait for vintage to arrive so we can get on to it, so stay tuned to hear updates on this little beauties progress.

The Silent Showman Range is our flagship range, the wines produced only in the years where vintage conditions and fruit quality is outstanding. The winemaking techniques used for these wines deliver finesse and style to our wines with excellent cellaring potential. Until recently the Silent Showman range included only a shiraz viognier, however, our new Silent Showman Shiraz magnum will be released before the end of the year. Depending on vintage conditions we also hope to soon release our first white in this range, a Silent Showman Viognier.

These wines were released in acknowledgment of the accomplishments of Sir George Tallis, a family ancestor and theatrical entrepreneur in the early 1900s. Sir George arrived in Melbourne in 1886 as a 17-year-old Irish immigrant with 14 shillings in his pocket. During his lifetime, he rose to the top of the Australian entertainment industry, establishing a reputation as the ‘man behind’ the world’s largest entertainment organisation of the 1920s known as ‘The Firm’. His achievements were significant, yet his story lies buried. In part this can be attributed to his own personality: he was a quiet man, not given to self promotion.