The Story Behind the Wine
The O’Dwyer wines are the product of Judith and Donal O’Dwyer’s mutual appreciation of fine quality produce.
Shortly after making Australia their family home in 2004, Donal and Judith began to establish the building blocks needed to allow them to realise their shared dream – to produce fine, high quality wines.
Donal, who comes from Tipperary, Ireland (the ancestral home of the O’Dwyer/Dwyer Clan – see www.dwyerclan.com), and Australian-born Judith, along with their four children, embarked on a road trip around the bottom right hand corner of Australia to source the best wine-growing region. Stopping overnight in South Australia ’s Clare Valley, the renowned wine producing area immediately appealed - its Irish name, its great history of winemaking and its European influences, not to mention its own unique country charm. For Donal it was also a fond reminder of County Clare in Ireland where he spent five of his formative years in boarding school.
The next day, independent of each other, Donal and Judith happened across the little vineyard of Sweet Briar. A small, well-established vineyard, located just six kilometres (just under four miles) north of the town of Clare , it was exactly what both Judith and Donal envisaged and they felt that the Vineyard had chosen them. Sweet Briar was for sale and within a week, they owned it.
Donal (left) with Dick Bryksy, Sweet Briar Vineyard Manager. |
The property consists of 26 acres (10.6 hectares), of which nearly 14 acres (six hectares) are under vine. For many decades, the vineyard had been producing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, as well as Cabernet Franc and Shiraz , with its high-quality produce sold to local winemakers.
In the far southern corner of the vineyard, a parcel of very old (90 years) Cabernet Sauvignon vines generates luscious flavourful grapes. When dry grown and hand picked, the gnarled aged vines produce grapes for the O’Dwyer Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon wine.
Realising that an enthusiasm for wine was not sufficient to achieve outstanding results, Donal and Judith teamed up with award-winning winemakers David O’Leary and Nick Walker of O’Leary Walker Wines, to make the flagship O’Dwyer Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon. This collaboration has resulted in extraordinary outcomes.