Beyond the bottle: meet the winemakers of Holm Oak, Balancing Heart and TarraWarra Estate

Behind every great Australian wine is a passionate winemaker with a unique story to tell. In this feature, we shine a spotlight on three of the country’s most exciting wine talents – from Tasmania’s cool-climate Tamar Valley to Queensland’s emerging Granite Belt and Victoria’s renowned Yarra Valley.

Get to know Bec Duffy of Holm Oak, whose hands-on approach and love for Tasmanian pinot noir drives her small but mighty operation. Meet Mikes Hayes of Balancing Heart, crafting expressive, site-driven wines in one of Australia’s most under-the-radar wine regions. And hear from Sarah Fagan, winemaker at TarraWarra Estate, where elegance, sustainability and a deep respect for terroir shape every vintage.

Read on to meet the makers, and click below to discover their wines.

Bec Duffy of Holm Oak

Bec was born and raised on King Island, a small Island located in Bass Straight that is well known for its cheese, but not an ideal place for growing grapes. However, her father planted a few vines on their farm in King Island and this planted the seed for Bec that she might want to be a winemaker. She enjoyed agriculture and chemistry at school, so thought winemaking might be an interesting career choice.

In Year 10, Bec did a couple of days of work experience at Pipers Brook Vineyard (in 1992!) and then moved from boarding school in Launceston to Adelaide to start her winemaking degree in 1995. On completion of her degree, she worked at a range of different wineries before settling in Busselton and working at Capel Vale Wines in WA. With Capel Vale having vineyards in different regions across WA, Bec gained exposure to a wide range of wine styles and winemaking techniques.

In 2004, the opportunity arose for Bec to move back to Tasmania to start her own venture at Holm Oak. When she finally arrived at the site in 2006 she was faced with a pretty rundown vineyard and very small winemaking facility. First a new winery was built and Bec quickly had to learn how to grow cool-climate pinot noir. Fortunately, she met her viticulturist husband Tim not long after moving to Tassie and together the pair have built Holm Oak into the highly respected family-owned wine brand that it is today.

While they enjoying growing and making a variety of styles, pinot noir is at the heart of what Holm Oak produces. Bec loves it so much that she makes eight different wines using this variety. Over the 19 vintages that she has been there, Bec and Tim have continually learnt about and refined the winemaking for the select parcels of fruit grown on their property. With different aspects and locations in the vineyard, different clones and winemaking techniques, they have worked diligently to maximise the potential of each individual batch of wine produced.

Shop Bec's Holm Oak wines here

Mike Hayes of Balancing Heart

Mike Hayes was born and bred in the Granite Belt, only 5km from where Balancing Heart is located. This has given Mike a personal sense of place and purpose among the giant boulders scattered throughout the vineyard, including the natural rock formation shaped like a heart for which the winery is named.

Across his 40+ year career in wine, Mike has worked in 16 regions throughout Australia and New Zealand, has visited nearly 50 wine regions and has observed over 600 varieties for climate change resilience. In 1979, early in his career, he was exposed to a range of 'alternative' varieties, including gewürztraminer, gamay and malbec.

This exposure shaped Mike's wine journey, and a little over a decade ago Mike enrolled in a Masters in Emerging Grape Varieties, which he completed in 2012, and a year later he completed a Churchill Fellowship, whereby students travel overseas to research a topic of their choosing for four to six weeks. Mike wanted to go back to the soul, the purpose and the ancient history of the wine.

As a winemaker, Mike's ethos is inspired by the Portuguese, Spanish and Italians in regard to the importance of the earth, the seasons and the movement in time. He focuses on minimal intervention winemaking, with no chemicals, acid or tannin additions. "European wine is about viticulture, not the winemaker, and I see myself not as a dominance, but an accessory to the natural art," Mike says.

This ideology is paramount at Balancing Heart, where all vines are harvested with physiological ripeness and Baumé and Mike uses indigenous yeasts and natural malolactic bacteria. All additives in Balancing Heart wines are vegan, and the wines are made without temperature control.

In 2017, Mike was proud to be awarded the ASVO Winemaker of the Year and, to date, he is the only Queensland winemaker to ever be nominated, let alone be awarded the honour. Recently, Balancing Heart launched a premium collection of only six wines – the Aficionado collection – of which Mike is especially proud.

Shop Mike's Balancing Heart wines here

Sarah Fagan of TarraWarra Estate

Like many winemakers, Sarah Fagan has held a range of roles in the wine industry. Her journey began back in 2003, when she joined De Bortoli Yarra Valley as a casual vintage worker, before progressing through the ranks until eventually she held the role of Senior Winemaker.

In 2023, Sarah commenced as winemaker at TarraWarra Estate, bringing with her twenty years of winemaking experience and a deep love of the Yarra Valley. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey at De Bortoli, and I am proud of the wines we have made over my time of working with their vineyards. TarraWarra Estate has always carved its own independent path here in the Yarra Valley and I look forward to continuing this tradition and embracing change and the development of TarraWarra Estate into the future,” Sarah said upon joining the team.

At TarraWarra, Sarah is responsible for all aspects of winemaking and winery operations. As an experienced wine judge, with a refined palate and particular appreciation for cool-climate winemaking from regions all over the world, she is perfectly placed to deliver on the philosophy and drive Tarrawarra Estate’s wines to a new level of success and recognition.

Sarah’s first wines made at TarraWarra Estate are now available and she is particularly delighted with the 2024 Estate Chardonnay. The initial aromatics on the nose are of citrus and sea spray, giving way to subtle notes of white flowers and a hint of roasted hazelnuts. In the glass there are refreshing flavours centred around citrus fruits, slight saline notes and background white flowers. Some subtle notes of just ripe white nectarine help give grip and texture to the palate. A chalky drive through the palate aids in length, drive and freshness.

Sarah loves serving this wine with linguine with crab, chilli, lemon, and parsley. Or if you're after something more simple, with freshly shucked Sydney Rock Oysters with a wedge of lemon.

Shop Sarah's TarraWarra Estate wines here

Top image credit: Holm Oak