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The Michael Dunbabin Podcast
milton_conversation.mp3 (13.1 mb  14:23 minutes)	During our conversation with Michael we ask him about the name of his property, we hear about how Michael and his family came to Milton, we find out what a young Dunbabin has to do to rebel, we learn a bit about seed potatoes, we hear how to look after vines and impress him with our extensive personal viticultural experience. Moving on we learn why Michael likes Wine Making Tasmania and why he takes a close interest in how his wines are made. To finish we discuss the best way to keep Starlings away from his grapes.

Michael Dunbabin - The man from Milton.

During our recent visit to the east coast we caught up with Michael Dunbabin who, along with his wife Kerry, owns Milton vineyard.  If you think you have heard that name before you would be right - we recently did an impression of the 2008 Milton gewürztraminer.

Usually a trip into the country conjures up visions of beautiful scenery with the quiet only broken by the musical calls of native birds or animals. Well the Milton cellar door does have the beautiful scenery and the calls of native birds but also comes with the periodic boom from gas guns and the melodic sound of passing trucks. Despite this we got a lot from our very enjoyable conversation with Michael.

The Dunbabin family has a long and proud history in Tasmanian agriculture having been on the land since the early 1800's. In fact, so many Dunbabins are farmers that we suggested to Michael that the only way a young Dunbabin could rebel was to go and get an office job and end up as a city slicker shiny pants. Michael laughed politely at this point and changed the subject - we obviously touched a nerve!

Follow the sign

Michael and Kerry arrived at Milton in late 1979 and have taken the property from one that specialised in sheep to a mixed agricultural business that thankfully also produces fantastic grapes. Their decision to plant vines came from their experience as croppers and by watching the successful efforts of other growers in the region. In 1992 they planted pinot and chardonnay grapes and have gradually added other varieties over the years.

Since Milton has a wide range of vines we wanted to know if, from a plant management perspective, different grape varieties have different requirements. "No, they're much the same through the year even though the wines at the end of the day are quite different" Michael replied. The vines at Milton get the calcium and potassium they require through fertilisers applied through the watering system and the organic matter comes from slashing the grass planted between the vine rows. Once the fruit is ready Michael uses Winemaking Tasmania because "it's a good set up, there are some good young winemakers ... headed by a winemaker with a fair bit of experience and knowledge". 

You can't miss the entrance

Despite how much he admires and trusts the winemakers at Winemaking Tasmania Michael travels to Hobart a lot to be involved in the winemaking process. "We do keep an eye on the wines as they progress quite a lot" He does this to see how the flavours are developing and to increase his level of knowledge.

To finish we wanted to know why Michael was using a gas gun as well as nets. In case you haven't heard them a gas gun emits a regular explosion which is designed as a non lethal way to deter birds. Starlings, an introduced bird species, are Michael's pet hate because they are extremely smart and can do a lot of damage to a ripe grape crop in a very short space of time. This matches a story Paul Stranan from Darlington Vineyard told us about how the previous owners of Darlington lost a complete crop in the space of a couple of days.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Milton and as we have said before, Michael is a real gentleman. We also recorded a tasting of the latest Milton vintage and you will be able to hear that after the next update in mid June. In the meantime if you have a chance to buy any of the Milton range, but especially the rosé, pinot or gewürztraminer, then take it. 

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