We were not obvious candidates for a sea change. When we talked
of moving to the country, friends pointed out that Tony and I were
hardly back-to-nature types. ‘Do you own a single pair of shoes
without heels?’ asked a friend. But at the end of a bleak winter,
we bought an old farmhouse on 10 daffodil-dotted acres at Red Hill
and planted a vineyard.’ Cathy Gowdie had a life plan: have two
children in quick succession before the age of thirty, move her
parents down to Melbourne for childcare duties, and whip back into
the office to resume a successful career. But life had other plans,
and when it became clear that she would have to change tack, Cathy
and her husband Tony, an aspiring winemaker, packed up and moved to
Red Hill, on Victoria’s beautiful Mornington Peninsula. They knew
it would never be easy. Living the dream is somewhat less deluxe
than simply dreaming it. Like toddlers and Italian cars, the
vineyards required constant vigilance, and Tony and Cathy soon
discovered the delights and disasters of daily life on the land:
scavenging birds, grape rot, objecting neighbours, late frost,
dwindling bank balances, foxes at the window and weeds that fly
across the wind to settle in carefully tended vegie patches.
Foxey’s Hangout chronicles their journey from city dwellers
to winery owners, as they familiarise themselves with their new
life and the murderous history behind their winery label.
Illustrated throughout with lush photography and featuring a
seasonal recipe for each month, Foxey’s Hangout reveals a
year in the life of a winemaker, beyond the façade of the cellar
door.
