Industry mourns untimely loss
Laying the foundations for a successful wine business takes much more than a good bit of vineyard dirt and a state-of-the-art winery facility. It requires vision, passion and tenacious spirit. These are the human elements that make the wine world go around.
That is something Tasmania's small, close-knit wine community has paused to reflect on this week following the sudden death of Sinapius Vineyard co-founder, Vaughn Dell. Dell died at his family home on the vineyard in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The 39-year-old was the adored soul-mate of Linda Morice and doting father of two young girls.
Practically inseparable since their early teenage years, Dell and his wife Morice established their cutting-edge Pipers Brook operation back in February 2005. Only 23 years old at the time, the young couple were essentially industry 'newbies,' with limited knowledge and practical experience of cool climate viticulture.
Between them, they managed to turn Sinapius Vineyard into one of the State's most exciting and widely respected producers of small scale, single vineyard wines.
Renowned UK author and Master of Wine, Jancis Robinson O.B.E. figured among the number of industry luminaries who acknowledged the couple's very early successes.
"Wines produced by Vaughn Dell and Linda Morice from Sinapius have an intensity that transcends the norm," she observed back in 2012.
Fellow UK writer and wine critic Sarah Amed added the following in late 2017:
"Having visited Sinapius in 2012 and in 2016... I was deeply impressed by Vaughn's and Linda's pursuit of excellence and innovation in the vineyard and the winery. They are at the vanguard of a new wave of Tasmanian born and bred artisanal grape to glass producers – an exciting, very newsworthy development."
"Vaughn and Linda spent more than 15 years working together on their vineyard site," recalls Justin Arnold from Ghost Rock Wines.
"They deserved many more years of being together, just getting some enjoyment out of their shared wine passion. Everyone in the industry has been stunned by his death this week."
Dell and Arnold were friends and close confidantes for more than half their lives. Their paths crossed when they were both 14 years old, playing junior football on Tasmania's North West Coast. Subsequent professional playing careers – Dell with the Burnie Dockers and Arnold with Devonport Port Power – brought mutual admiration and a lifelong friendship.
"I played with a lot of young guys over the years and Delly was the most courageous player I ever saw out on the footy ground," Arnold recalls.
"He continued to show that same passion and commitment all through the rest of his life. That said, I think if you'd asked us when we were 18 or 19 what we'd be doing after football, neither of us would've put money on being in the wine industry. It's quite remarkable how that's played out. That's been a lovely twist to our journey all these years.'
Dell and Morice began their Tasmanian wine odyssey by purchasing an established vineyard on property that once belonged to the Richardson family, founders of Pipers Brook's Delamere Vineyard. The site had been planted to 2.5ha of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the mid-1990s and given the name Golders Vineyard by its subsequent owner, Richard Crabtree.
The move to Pipers Brook reflected a change of heart for the former AFL schools development officer and his occupational therapist partner. They first bought land at Kendenup, north of Mount Barker in the Great Southern wine region of Western Australia.
Dell had worked vintage at Barwick Wines, 270km away in Margaret River.
"We really loved Mount Barker," Dell once said in explaining the couple's move back to their home State.
"Pretty soon we began to question whether we really wanted to be starting a new business with all our family members back in Tassie. It just so happened that around the same time Golders was advertised for sale."
Today, Sinapius plays host to a tiny on-site winery and four small, discretely different vineyard blocks. These comprise a little over four hectares of close-planted, meticulously managed vines. They include 14 clones of Pinot Noir, 11 clones of Chardonnay, 9 clones of Riesling, together with smatterings of Pinot Gris, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay Musqué and Gamay.
The vineyard's most recent additions include 1200 Ribolla Gialla vines, planted during the summer of 2020. Little known in Australia, the ancient white wine variety can be found in parts of northern Italy and Slovenia.
"Vaughn wasn't afraid to try new varieties and clones, and new ways of doing things," says Delamere Vineyards co-owner, Shane Holloway.
The former South Australian and his wife Fran Austin have been Sinapius Vineyard neighbours since the couple purchased Delamere in 2007.
"Vaughn's been there every single day that we've had our place," Holloway continues.
"He was there from the get-go, and we both really matured together as owners of wine businesses. The beautiful thing is that Vaughn was the kind of guy that was always willing to back himself in everything that he did.
"He was a deserving winner of the Dr Don Martin Sustainable Viticulture Fellowship back in 2017. He and Linda went on their overseas study trip and came back with a whole lot of new ideas and understandings. Those experiences were really starting to show through in the quality of the wines Vaughn was making.
"This week has been a very sad one for Vaughn's family, and for the industry as well. He was so passionate and so driven by his love of the land. He had such a strong desire to push boundaries and improve the quality of his winemaking and viticulture.
"Vaughn's loss will be a huge blow to the industry as well as to his family and friends."
First published 22 May 2020: tasmaniantimes.com