Maipenrai Vineyard & Winery

What a story this is, far too rich for just a few lines. It begins at Harvard, in 1992-93, where American-born Brian Schmidt and (now) wife (Australian) Jennifer Gordon were both working on their PhDs. Brian is presently the Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University. He won a Nobel Prize for Astronomy in '11. Prior to emigrating to Canberra in '95, he had formed a research team of 20 astronomers on five continents who used distant exploding stars to trace the expansion of the universe back in time; between then and now he has been awarded a constellation of awards and fellowships, undeterred by the tragic destruction of Mount Stromlo in the Canberra bushfires of '03. In 1999 he and Jennifer purchased a property with a beautiful sloped hillside, and planted six clones of pinot noir; he was 33 at the time, and figured that by the time he was ready to retire, the vineyard would be well and truly into the prime of its life. An astronomer's view indeed. A 0.1ha trial of ultra-close spaced shiraz and viognier is underway. -JAMES HALLIDAY