Chris Dilworth and Loique Allain created a small negociant style business in tine for their first harvest in 2017. Dilworth and Allain make their wines at Guildford Vineyard and Cellar. They are currently working with vineyards in the Macedon Ranges and the Pyrenees, producing approximately 1200 dozen per year. Chris and Loique moved to the region with their young family as they have always felt a strong connection to these regions, through the landscape and wine.
2021 marked the last harvest that we were working at Eastern Peake with Owen Latta. Having worked for Owen and family for 5 years as their winemaker it was a wonderful vintage too finish on. After the harvest we moved to a new winemaking space at Mandy Jean’s Guildford Vineyard and Cellar (GVC). Here we are making Mandy’s wines for her and we are free to make our wines there too. It is a motivating experience having the time and space to be able to focus on our label and work on the small production of GVC. Mandy’s 7 acre vineyard sits in the North Western corner of the Macedon Ranges and has a unique slate soil profile and is farmed biodynamically.
Chris was born into the world of hospitality, growing up in his parent’s restaurant in Sydney. At the age of 8 his family moved from the city to a farm in Belford, which is located in the Hunter Valley where his parent’s grew citrus and stone fruit along with a 1 acre plot of Shiraz and Muscat. His first job out of high school was picking grapes followed by a job working front of house at 'Robert’s restaurant' in Pokolbin. This along with stints at restaurants in Sydney, London and Melbourne provoked him to seek out and learn more about the production side of things.
Chris had his first vintage experience in 2007 and the following year he started a Viticulture and Winemaking degree at the University of Adelaide which he finished in 2011. Throughout his studies Chris worked for Dean Hewitson in the Barossa Valley. Following this he has worked for Castello dei Rampolla in Tuscany, Dominique Lafon in both the Macon and Meursault and Morilla Estate in Tasmania, along with vintage experiences in the Mornigton Peninsula, McLaren Vale, Hunter Valley and Adelaide Hills.
Loique grew up in the Adelaide Hills before her family moved to Victor Harbor as a young teen. Loique is an artist, primarily focusing on printmaking she completed her Honors in Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania in 2015. Prior to this she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Adelaide. Her parents are also artist’s and have a strong commitment and focus on working with Australian Indigenous artist’s, which has been influential to Loique’s lived and working experiences.
Wine has always been appealing to Loique, but living in Italy and France and continuing her own artistic journey was when she developed a strong passion for wine. The experiences of being invited into different Domaines and being welcomed as close friends and shown how people live their lives through wine was moving for her. In Burgundy Loique worked with Paul Pillot for the growing season in the vineyard and continued into the winery for the harvest, at the same time she also worked at Domaine Bernard van Berg in Meursault. She has also worked in the Mclaren Vale for a vintage.
We are inspired by the living culture of wine and the art of fermentation and its rich history throughout different cultures. Our lived travelling experiences both in Australia and Europe has been formative to the way we live our lives and make our wines.
