Our Story

Tallagandra Hill is a family owned winery producing premium cool climate wines only from grapes grown on vines enriched by the hardworking soils of Gundaroo and nurtured by the hands and hearts of our family and friends. Our wines carry in them the unique characteristics and the passion of the people and the place. Each bottle contains a hand-made wine and a memorable story. Our aim is to create an unforgettable experience for every person who visits us or savours our wine. Enjoy wine tasting with storytelling. Share in our creative space. Become part of our Tallagandra Hill family. We welcome you.

Tallagandra Hill Winery is owned by David Faulks and Mary McAvoy.  Taking over the property in 2016, David and Mary have drawn on their international experience in design, marketing and events to create a place and products to be enjoyed.

Each wine is crafted through the growing process, the brilliance of wine-makers Greg Gallagher and Lauren Gallagher, the artistry of our designers and storytellers and the hard work of our many friends who have shared our vision and the journey so far.

Our brand

The name Tallagandra Hill means ‘a place of many cows’. It comes from our own unique location in the foothills outside Gundaroo, north of Canberra. The land was originally farming land owned by the Sibley family and was used mostly for grazing prior to the 1990s when Brad and AnneMaree Schafferius first planted the vineyard that is now Tallagandra Hill Winery.

When David Faulks and Mary McAvoy became the new owners of Tallagandra Hill in 2016, they wanted to maintain the heritage of the brand, but refresh the positioning of the place and the wines for a younger, more diverse market. Our philosophy has been to keep the corporate brand simple but express its personality through the stories and personas of each individual wine and events we run. Our new labels each has its own unique story connected to the history of the land, our own history and the stories of our families and friends. Look for the stories of each of our wines.  Below are some of the ways we hope we epxress our band through what we do.

Kind to the Planet – Nurturing our Environment

Our business relies on the environment – we look after the environment and it looks after us. Our philosophy is to be gentle to the environment and use a low touch approach in the vineyard.

For example, we use sustainable vineyard management practices, including environmentally friendly spraying, no under-vine spraying, programmed solar powered irrigation and careful water management. In addition, through soil and petiole analysis, we have moved to a compost-based natural organic nutrient program in the vineyard and only elemental disease prevention techniques.

Our nutrient program developed with  nearby Hilltops companies AgSwitch and Living Soils has proven to be revolutionary for us in terms of building greater resilience against climate factors in the vineyard, as well as enhancing yield and bunch quality. It has also proven to be a hit in a storytelling sense with our increasingly environment-conscious customer base.

Renewable energy

We are transitioning to 100% renewable energy. In October 2020, we installed a high-quality solar power system that is sufficient to serve the energy requirements for our cellar door, events and accommodation operations. We have also installed a separate solar system for our house and driveway lights. The system also powers our vineyard irrigation which is now fully automated, again saving fuel costs, emissions and time while providing a better outcome with crop management.

Recycling and repurposing

A key component of our facilities beautification projects at Tallagandra Hill is the extensive use of reclaimed materials, including timbers slabs, panels, doors and posts from historically significant places such as the original Gundaroo bridge, Balmain wharf and heritage buildings around NSW. We have also used heritage lamp posts for driveway lighting sourced from Sydney City and Wagga Wagga, weir gates from the Murray River, and signage posts from the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. This has helped us build a connection between contemporary and heritage in our look and feel. Importantly, by consistently using reclaimed materials we have minimised the impact of our building projects on the environment.

We operate an extensive recycling program with all of our glass, cardboard, metal and plastic waste.

We actively buy and promote local produce and products reducing carbon emissions and air miles.

Bottling and packaging

It is often the small decisions that matter the most. In our case, there is no use us preaching kindness to the planet if we don’t practice what we preach in the bottles, labels, capsules and packaging we use. So we have sort out suppliers that provide environment friendly solutions to our critical inputs. An example is the bottles we use now made with 30% less glass and a minimum of 40% recycled glass in the final bottle – and all from an Australian manufacturer. We embrace this same principle across all our purchasing including for cardboard and paper products. We also actively use glass or aluminum based beverage packaging as a more better option than plastics. Customers and performers alike greatly respect this action.

We Love Local 

Our We Love Local program was born initially in 2020 from a desire to help local artists during a time when it seemed like the world had forgotten them – some of the worst affected in terms of income, career development and social opportunities.

“There are many spaces designed for hospitality, wine tasting and tourism throughout Australia, but very few designed to showcase homegrown Australian artists. A place for an artist to safely take you through their subjective universe of song and spoken word. Tallagandra Hill is a home to music and merry making. It is as authentic as Col Joy and Slim Dusty, Paul Kelly and Ian Moss. David and Mary take the ‘backstage’ onto the stage and invite audiences to really be a part of the performance.”  Kate Ceberano

Since that time, We Love Local has remained as part of our DNA and our fundamental purpose as a business. It is embedded into our decision-making and business practices, our commitment to buy local products and services and to support local artists and the local community groups.  It is now both a program for environmental responsibility as well as social and economic responsibility. We are reducing air miles and carbon emissions by buying local as well as contributing to the economic and social welfare of those who need ongoing support.

Reconciliation

Our regular patrons are now used to, and embrace, the Welcome to Country Richie Allan Welcome to Country that leads off our music events. We are also partnering on artistic installations to support our shared message of ‘Walking Together’ and artworks from the Allan family are prominent in our venue (and our house!).

For all of us in the Tallagandra Hill family, this is far more than a spoken message or set of words; it is a commitment to shared values and experiences that we live out on a daily basis. Richie speaks of walking together in the footprints of our elders and we regularly walk together in a connection to the land, the arts, sport and our combined family lives. We try to actively help Richie, his organization and his people to educate the broader community about reconciliation and the actions we can all take for a better and kinder world.

Our ethical responsibilities

Our ethics are embedded in our business and work hard to ensure that we are seen as a business for good, not just a good business. We are committed to the Millennium Development Goals through our environmental and social practices.

We practise our ethical standards through all our actions and programs, as described throughout this submission. Some examples include:

• our engagement with our local Ngunnawal peoples through Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
• our highly personal customer service
• inclusiveness in all our services
• our environmental practices and commitment to renewable energy
• our We Love Local program
• our commitments to buy local and support local producers
• our proven ongoing support for the music and arts sector
• our daily actions and personal accountability.

Accessibility

When we make decisions about our business, our venue and our unique tourism experiences, we consider accessibility issues carefully and continue to improve access for all members of the community.

Some of our pride points related to accessibility are:
*pathways at Tallagandra Hill Wines are primarily flat and suitable for those with limited mobility
*the cellar door is on level ground/ does not have stairs
*our cellar-door toilet can be accessed by those in a wheelchair, and our new rest rooms in the event venue have a specifically designed accessibility toilet
*one of our three cabins is suitable for those in a wheelchair or with limited mobility, with a ramp from the carpark to the verandah, a wide doorway and an accessible bathroom
*our cellar door is family friendly, with many families taking advantage of the fenced school-quality playground.