145˚02'23''E 37˚11'16''S

Steve Fitzmaurice was a professional yachtsman who, aged 40, had a ‘typical mid-life crisis and uprooted the family from Sydney and headed to Wagga (CSU) to study oenology', an academic experience he didn't find altogether rewarding. A complicated turn of events led him to Adrian Munari's vineyard and winery in Heathcote, where he became involved in the making of the Sugarloaf Creek Shiraz from 2001, notwithstanding that Sugarloaf Creek is in fact in the Goulburn Valley, not Heathcote. He continued to learn pruning in the vineyard and winemaking in the winery, which led to his securing a three-year-plus-three-year option lease of Sugarloaf Creek, and making his 2008 Broadford Shiraz. The tasting note I wrote was made before I read the life story and winemaking aims, and it would seem he has succeeded in making a wine precisely as he wished. That is a happy ending; however, one of these days he will get tired of restaurants and retailers throwing up their hands at the yachting-inspired name, which is the exact GPS position of the vineyard. -JAMES HALLIDAY