Joe Breen on a man who makes 'Irish wine in Australia'
Gerard Hughes occupies a pretty unusual position in the hierarchy of past pupils from St Joseph's CBS in Fairview, Dublin. Whatever about his initial choice of career, as an inspector in Australia's oil and gas industry, his decision to turn a farm there into a winery should illuminate any alumni gathering.
Back in Dublin recently to follow up on sales of his Carrick Hills wines, Hughes was happy to talk about the ups and downs of life in the fields. "I really enjoy the life. Is it romantic? Not after the first year. The romance tends to go out of it, because it is hard work. It is long hours and hard work to achieve an end. What is incredibly satisfying is when someone seeks you out. I had this once before, when I made furniture. I was bowled over. It's the same with wine. To make something with your own hands and take it to a point where someone buys a bottle and then comes back for another one, the feeling is simply fantastic."
He has selected a wonderful area to fulfil his dream of creating fine wine. Margaret River, at the southern tip of Western Australia, is home to some of the country's great wines, including two with Irish connections, Cullen Wines and Leeuwin Estate. Hughes is loud in his praise of their achievements. He is more modest in his own ambitions. At the moment he produces a total of 3,000 cases of Shiraz and a Cabernet-Merlot blend, of which roughly a third is sold in Ireland, a third in Australia and a third in Japan. The emphasis, he says, is on quality, not quantity. He has produced two vintages, of which the second is a huge improvement on the first.
Hughes stresses the Irish connection. The label features a Celtic-style drawing of a dog, which was copied from one he did at school. He took the name from the anglicisation of carraig, or rock. "From day one I had Ireland as a target market," he says. "This is an Irish wine from Australia." And the future? "I'm still at the early stages, and last year was the first when I can say that I made a profit - a small one. Eighteen months from now I'll make a good living, even just sticking at 3,000 cases."