Caroline Mooney, Owner and Winemaker
It was the year 2000, when I travelled to South Australia to do my first vintage with the Hardy’s Tintara team in McLaren Vale.
This would test my resolve, sharpen my sense of calling, and set my course on a way forward.
Following this first vintage, I enrolled at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga to study Wine Science.
Inspired and up for the challenge, I returned to the Yarra Valley and took up a cellar hand position with the Yering Station winemaking team led by Tom Carson, working my way up to Assistant Winemaker by 2004 and Winemaker in 2007.
In 2006, I travelled to Hermitage in France’s Rhône Valley to work at one of the most highly regarded and respected producers, Domaine Jean Louis Chave.
This time in Hermitage inspired me to take a new direction. So in 2008, I left Yering Station to pursue my own winemaking goals with Bird On A Wire Wines.
Raised in the Yarra Valley by Leo and Mary Mooney of the Yarra Valley Dairy, there’s not much I don’t know about this region, its seasons, its topography, the captivating vistas, the colourful personalities and the extraordinary winescape of the upper and lower reaches of the valley – all of these factors make this a place I love to call home.
I have been actively involved in the local wine industry as a founding member of Yarra Valley Wine Women, contributor to the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association and I continually work on improving my knowledge and palate through research and wine judging at national, metropolitan and regional wine shows.
