Dick finds the vines

Talking to Dick you quickly realise that he has managed to squeeze in several lifetimes worth of experiences. There are however, some common themes that run throughout. You won't find Dick trying to develop obtuse financial products or running heavy manufacturing enterprises. He prefers to have a connection with the environment whether directly (for example, he was head of the Tasmanian Environment Centre) or through the promotion of quality Tasmanian food and wine.

Dick was part of the team at the Aberfeldy Cellars during the time when it was one of the few places that was serious about the promotion of quality Tasmanian wine. During the early 1990's the Aberfeldy Cellars was the place to go if you were after premium wine - even beer drinkers knew that! They also had a newsletter that attempted to entertain and educate wine lovers as well as providing the start for people like Mark Smith.

While Dick's departure from the Aberfeldy would bring a smile to the face of all patriotic Aussies, "I have to confess I was sacked for dancing on the tables and being late for work the next day" (Aussie Aussie Aussie - Drink, Dance, Sacked! - Ed), it was hardly auspicious. However it was the start of a chain of experiences relating to the promotion of quality Tasmanian foods.  Part of this journey saw Dick working on a marine industry project funded by Japanese government as part of their foreign aid program for 'third world' countries. Yes punters to the Japanese Tasmania is a 'developing nation' (er ....  thanks for the help .... I guess - Ed). 

This long association with promoting quality products has left Dick with some definite views on the opportunities available to Tasmania as well as a level of frustration regarding the lack of progress in the pursuit of those opportunities. As an example, at the time Dick was promoting premium cheese products he could see that this segment of the dairy industry had the potential to be a major contributor to the Tasmanian economy but significant government assistance was being directed to supporting producers of powdered milk.

Dick believes this bias toward commodity over quality extends across a range of industries and shows a lack of understanding that Tasmania's future lies in being different, not just a smaller version of everyone else. This view is mirrored with the ongoing debate in the wine industry as a whole as Australia tries to manage being both a premium and bulk wine producer.

This frustration, coupled with his love for the environment, saw him throw his hat into the political ring. He stood in the electorate of Denison for the Tasmanian Greens during the early to mid 1990's. While gaining a respectable number of votes it wasn't enough for him to be successful so Dick had to keep working for a living.

Shortly after this time he started to contribute to a project designed to provide content for the emerging technology around car navigation systems. Wanting to build on his wine experience Dick and his partners decided to help people find their way to vineyards. "Getting around the Mornington Peninsula is diabolical ... it's the same in the Adelaide Hills" he argues.

To address this issue Dick has spent a lot of time driving around various wine regions collecting the coordinates of every vineyard he could find. The result of all this hard work is now available on the Vinefinders website. It is a very impressive collection. There is even a vineyard logged for the Northern Territory!

At first it was difficult to convince people that having this information would be helpful. "People didn't understand the need for it ... it wasn't until we produced a map (the wine map of Victoria) that people could start to see the usefulness of it". Recently a wine map of Tasmania has joined the Victorian one and is being promoted within the state by Graeme Phillips (you can see his happy smiley face in our gallery - Ed).

Two and a half years ago Dick decided to move to Melbourne. "I wanted to pursue this idea (vinefinders) and I met up with someone (Julie) I had a relationship with 33 years ago". So how are things second time around? "It's so much easier ... you don't have to discover all sorts of things about them .... there's less likely to be skeletons in the cupboard, or you know about them already" he quipped.

So it is that Dick finds himself running the vinefinders website from an apartment in St Kilda and breaking out a bottle of Moscato for a couple of very grateful winepunters. We will do a more in depth review of the vinefinders site and the Tasmanian Wine and Gastronomy Map in the future but our experience with both of them so far indicates that they are well worth using next time you head out into wine country.

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