Back in 1998, Ashley Huntington landed himself one hell of a job. The qualifi ed winemaker, who originally hails from regional Victoria, took up the position of senior winemaker at Hardy’s La Baume winery in the south of France. Life, you would think, could hardly get any better.
“I don’t actually know of another international Australianowned wine business that could off er that sort of experience at a senior managerial level, in an area that produces nine per cent of the world’s grapes,” Ashley says. “And we were living in some of the most extraordinarily beautiful countryside imaginable, with a unique chance to be part of a community and gain a much deeper understanding of another culture and people.”
But six years and seven vintages later, Ashley and his wife Jane decided that it was time to establish their own business. And as far as they were concerned, there was only one place in the world to do it. And it wasn’t the south of France.
“Before we left Australia for France, Ashley was doing a vintage at the Rochecombe winery in Tasmania,” Jane explains. “It was then that we caught the bug and identifi ed southern Tasmania as a fantastic place to grow things. When the decision was made to leave France, we set about looking for an agricultural property, and we found what we were looking for in the Derwent Valley.”
Ashley and Jane are fervent believers that southern Tasmania has the potential to produce distinctive wines of international class. But on their arrival in the Derwent Valley in 2004, with daughters aged three and fi ve in tow, their path took a decidedly unexpected turn. With the crowded market of vineyards and small wineries around Australia representing a challenging prospect, the couple perceived an opportunity to do something diff erent and very exciting – with beer.
“I was fascinated by beer as a small business opportunity,” Ashley recalls. “In Europe I had become acquainted with styles and regional interpretations of beer that were far more winelike than the beverage as represented in Australia. It’s a very monotonous, industrial beverage here, made almost exclusively by corporate giants in monolithic factories. There seemed to be an opportunity to interpret beer, which in its own way is capable of all the aromas and colours of wine, on a small scale.”
Certainly, they were in a very good place to do it. The Huntington’s property is a stone’s throw across the Derwent River from the Bushy Park hop fi elds, where 90 per cent of Australia’s hops is grown. And determined to maintain a focus on a purely regional product, Ashley and Jane did something rather original. They decided to grow their own grain and establish a farm-based brewery, basically applying the vineyard model of winemaking to the brewing of beer. Of course, to a seasoned vigneron, it made perfect sense. There was just noone else in the world that was doing it.
“Beer has lost its link with the land,” Jane off ers, by way of explanation. “It’s easy to forget that it is, after all, an agricultural product. Also, hops have long been bred with only bitterness in mind. We are keen to bring back old heritage varieties and make beers big on fl avour and aroma. There is, we think, a gap there in the market.”
The key to this is a focus on ‘real ale’ – bottle-fermented beer, which leaves the yeast sediment to settle on the bottom of the bottle. The beer is handmade and unfi ltered, in a process the Huntingtons say is a little like making champagne. “With champagne, you make a base wine and then re-ferment it,” Jane explains, “and that’s how we get the bubble in our ale. We don’t make beer and artifi cially gas it. The natural fermentation process gives the beer a soft sparkle rather than the gassy soda-streamtype eff ect of the fi zzy lagers we’ve all grown used to.”
The result of all this is the Two Metre Tall Company – the name being a nod to Ashley’s height. It made its fi rst brew in 2006, with four varieties of real ale. A break in production followed, in order to allow Ashley and Jane to convert their shearing shed into a new brewery that will turn out the brand new brews of 2009.
Firmly settled in their new home, the Huntingtons have no regrets about leaving the world-renowned countryside of southern France behind. Comparing their last two homes is perhaps a little like comparing a vintage fi ne wine with a fl avoursome real ale, but Jane is not too shy to express her opinion.
“I’d say it’s superior here,” she says. “The majesty of it, and the diff erence in density of population is something that I adore. I love the fact that our girls can walk to school and are out running on the green grass looking out over the River with Mount Field off in the distance. I wouldn’t live anywhere else now – we’re here forever.”
Australian beer connoisseurs, no doubt, will drink to that.

For more about the Two Metre Tall Company, visit: http://2mt.com.au.

Carol Dunkin and her husband Sam: enjoying their gardening

Tasmania’s Derwent Valley offers fertile ground for those looking to lay down new roots.

The Derwent Valley is located 36 kilometres north west from Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart, or a relaxing 30-minute drive along the banks of the majestic Derwent River. The river is the major geographic feature of the region and its nine tributaries wind through the fertile valley, creating a picturesque rural setting fi rst settled by Europeans in 1807.
The region covers 4,111 square kilometres and boasts some of Tasmania’s most spectacular wilderness areas, including the iconic Mt Field National Park incorporating Russell Falls, and the inspirational tall trees of the Styx Valley (visit www.riversrun.net.au for further details). The current population of 9,000 is projected to grow by between 3,000 and 5,000 over the next fi ve to seven years as a raft of housing projects mature.
The main regional hub, New Norfolk (Tasmania’s ‘country capital’), is celebrating its bicentennial, making it one of Tasmania’s and indeed Australia’s oldest towns. The built and natural landscape refl ects rich heritage and interesting stories, with many sites and buildings listed on the National Heritage Register.
The Derwent Valley offers fresh air, clean water and a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Spring is warm, summer is warm to hot and dry, and winter can be cold and frosty with snow on the mountains. It is autumn, however, for which the Derwent Valley is most famous. Introduced English trees aged up to 200 years are plentiful, providing spectacular autumn colours.

Family focus

The Derwent Valley has its own child care centre and family day care service, an abundance of open spaces, scenic walking tracks, parks, BBQ facilities and playgrounds. There is a skate park and an award-winning bike track, with its own traffi c lights and pedestrian crossings, specifi cally designed for youngsters to learn real road safety rules!

Education and industry

There are five Public Primary Schools with associated kindergartens and playgroups, one Public High School at New Norfolk and one District High School at Glenora, 15 minutes west of New Norfolk. Connections between the schools, community and industry are growing. For example, an innovative program called ‘Leading Edge’ aims to create links with industry and provide individualised programs for students beyond Grade 10. There is also one Catholic Primary School at New Norfolk and a comprehensive range of Private Schools in Hobart, with an extensive daily return bus service.
Housing construction, agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture, viticulture, retail, hospitality and care are the region’s emerging industries, adding to traditional forestry and newsprint manufacturing, with demand for people with science training and people skills.

Sports and recreation

This is a sport-loving community with venues for swimming, tennis, football, soccer, golf, speed-car racing, horse riding, shooting and bowls to name but a few, all supported by active social clubs. The Derwent River provides the perfect facility for water sports and world-class fishing, and boasts a reputation for producing Olympic rowing champions.

Robert Walker: found nothing in Europe to match the Derwent Valley

Full service

Whether it’s supermarkets or old-fashioned butchers and bakeries that you’re after, the Derwent Valley has it all. There are plenty of shopping options for the fashion conscious, and restaurants and cafes off er everything from takeaway to fine dining and great coff ee (the best in Tassie)! New Norfolk also has major banks, emergency services, a lawyer, laundry, post offi ce, police station, library, online access centre, veterinary clinic and much more.
For medical needs, there is a general practice medical centre, a community health centre (social workers, family health nurse, physiotherapist, etc), a dental clinic, two chemists, two optometrists and an award-winning aged care facility. A vibrant community house provides support through many varied programs and services including adult education, counselling, life skills and a regular community market.

Property

The valley offers a variety of property opportunities including new house and land packages, new one or three bedroom apartments close to all services, and existing rural properties. Residential property investment has been strong since the early nineties and demand for rental accommodation continues, with a next-to-nil vacancy rate. Rental properties often show a return of around six per cent gross, and commercial properties achieve up to 10 per cent.

For further information please refer to:

Derwent Real Estate Ph: (03) 62614222 www.derwentrealestate.com.au
Roberts Real Estate Ph: (03) 62611755 http://www.robertsre.com.au/newnorfolk
PRD Nationwide Ph: (03) 62612555 www.prdhobart.com.au
Prime Real Estate Ph: (03) 62612000 www.primerealestatetasmania.com.

In 2005, the Derwent Valley was awarded a bronze medal at the International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom), which is the world’s only competition for communities that focuses on environmental management and the creation of liveable communities.

For further information please refer to www.derwentvalley.com.au or Derwent Valley Council Ph: (03) 62618500, www.derwentvalley.tas.gov.au.