The Wine Blokes

There has been plenty of press about Kalleske Wines in recent times and for good reason. They’re pretty bloody good. Really it’s no surprise, as Troy Kalleske and the rest of his family have access to some amazing old vineyards that have been supplying fruit for Penfolds Grange for many a year. I went to University with Troy, and while most of us were doing our best to drink every wine on planet at least once before we graduated, Troy was quietly working his way to dux of the year, and an internship with Southcorp, that provided the foundation for his future success.

However it was with amusment that I read recently that the mild mannered Troy has a pet pig, and the wine press seemed to love the story. It would be a humurous site to see a pig galloping around the tanks and barrels.

At Mounadam we don’t have a pig, but we do have numerous other animals wondering around the vineyard and winery. The winery itself is set amongst 2000 acres of pastoral land and sheep wander around between the vines and around the winery. There’s also a rabbit catching cat, and a lunch steeling beagle named Benny.

The other day I was working in the winery and bent over to fasten a hose end. Something grabbed me on the bum and I turned around to see a goat starring out me, as if to say, “what are you doing here”. So everyday I’m at Mountadam, I have to work around the goats in the winery and constantly move them out, only for them to return and be a nuissance. I’ve worked in many wineries with animals as a feature, but this is the first time that a goat, or a number of goats have called a winery home.