Kalgoorlie vineyard makes dessert wine far from WA’s viniculture heart

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Kalgoorlie on the west Australian goldfields is often acquainted with gold mines and very hot and dry climate. But winemaker Geoff Paynter also sees it as the perfect place to produce a good red.

Transcript

00:00It's just before six in the morning, and grape picking is well underway.

00:08Who picks grapes in Kiguli?

00:10People who can't find gold.

00:13It's probably about 30 degrees.

00:15It's going to be a hot day.

00:17They're predicting 46.

00:19Sitting on the fringes of the Great Victoria Desert, this outback city is probably the

00:23last place you'd expect to see a vineyard, but Geoff begs to differ.

00:27Kiguli boulders always had a big history of Italians and they all had vineyards in

00:34their backyard.

00:35That was certainly not uncommon.

00:39I had bigger plans, but water is the biggest issue in Kiguli, so I'm a bit limited there.

00:45During the week he works as a surveyor for the mining industry, but on the weekends he's

00:50tending to his vines.

00:51I think as a surveyor I should be able to get the rows pretty straight, yes.

00:55And once a year he has a few more hands on deck.

00:58Every year this is a bit of a ritual for us.

01:00All of his mates are just happy to help out.

01:03Geoff established the vineyard in 2001 with his wife Catherine.

01:07I was making the wine, and Catherine was trying to sell it and market it and do the like,

01:14so when she passed on that sort of stalled a bit, so now I'm trying to regroup and get

01:22going again.

01:24Kiguli is all about friends.

01:25There's a lot of people I call friends here in Kiguli, and Kiguli is good for that.

01:32Wine may not be on the menu for another few months, but I'm sure there'll be something

01:36else on offer a bit later today.

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