Nomadic Outback teachers to spa country winemakers: The tale of Wombat Forest Wines

For close to 30 years, Deidre and Brendon Lawlor juggled raising their three children, managing a burgeoning Denver vineyard (Wombat Forest Wines) and travelling to far-off, remote parts of Australia as teachers.

🗣️: “We got an honorary adoption into two Aboriginal families, also with allocated names and dreamings. We worked in the Torres Strait, Hammond Island, Thursday Island as well. And came back during school holidays to work the vineyard.”

Deidre and Brendon helped establish a kindergarten in the Torres Strait on Hammond Island, and worked in places like the far-north Kimberley in Western Australia and Daly River in the Northern Territory, about 220km southwest of Darwin. 

They trained other teachers, and became immersed in the community. Then, they’d travel home to Denver to manage the vine. Asked how they managed it all, Deidre laughed.  

🗣️: “Well, you have to be very passionate.” 

The genesis of Wombat Forest Wines can be traced to Deidre’s childhood years in spa country, living on an extinct volcano. That site is just around the corner from Wombat Forest Wines. 

• “All through here is volcanic oil, and a lot of freshwater underground springs,” she  told the Brolga. 

The Lawlors undertook unpaid work at other wineries to learn the basics, and studied the methods of mentors like Eastern Peake’s Norman Latta and Zig Zag Wines’ Alan Stevens. 

Their own vineyard was established 37 years ago. 

🗣️: “Brendon became an intuitive sort of winemarker,” Diedre said. “We decided early to do single variety only, no blends, to let the fruit stand up for itself. And you can’t do both, it’s either just reds or just whites, and then you branch out. 

• “So we decided [on] just reds. And it just so happens we found a fallen piece of timber in the paddock that looked like a wine bottle. So we wrote just reds on it, and it’s still in the parking lot just up there.”

🏆 Sparkling success: Brendon’s first release was a sparkling pinot noir, for which he won a gold medal at the Ballarat Wine Show in 2004. 

In 2023 and 2024, Australian Good Food Guide named Wombat Forest Winery as the best in the Macedon Ranges and spa county. 

🌄The land today: The winery is within Wombat State Forest, and trees and dams surrounding the vineyard were planted by the Lawlors, as they wanted the space to be an extension of the forest. 

The property is home to 13 wombat burrows, black wallabies and wedge-tailed eagles. A family of spotted pardolotes has taken up residence on the banks of their dam. 

🌨️The microclimate: Every wine grape has a distinct flavour profile, influenced by a variety of factors. Deidre said a difference of 2-3km can cause a change in the "microclimate". 

• “Grapes work at night, like little Oompa Loompas. They develop their aroma and depth of flavour and colour in the evening. 

• “The combination of the cooler climate and red dirt makes it slow ripening. This enables the seeds inside the grape to soften so that it produces a smoother mouth feel and softer tannins and richer flavour in your fruit.”

Invasive species like the European wasp, present in Australia since 1954, are of concern, as they “suck the grape dry, sitting on the little nodules on the grape, and then another layer of wasps will be on top of them stinging the wasps below to get to the grapes”. 

Frost, common to the region, presents another issue. 

🗣️: “There’s a fluctuation in farming you can’t control,” Deidre said. “We are prone to frost. If we get frost damage and you have a reduction in cropping, you can be up to four years behind.” 

Brendon stopped teaching eight years ago, followed three years later by Deidre, and they have settled at the vineyard for good.