Patrick Sullivan: Gippsland’s champion
Huon Hooke in Wine People Become a member to view this article
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Patrick Sullivan at work in the winery. Wine Gippsland
Guide to Gippsland Feature Week
Patrick Sullivan is puzzled that major winemakers haven’t invested in Gippsland. After all, he says, it is probably the best place in Australia to make cool-climate wine.
Patrick makes wine from small parcels of vineyard scattered around the Baw Baw Shire, which is in West Gippsland.“There’s a lot of interest in Tasmania, but Tassie’s not the place. There are thousands of hectares that could yet be planted here. We have volcanic soil, soft light and a cool climate. Humidity is high. It is probably far cooler than Tasmania in summer and it’s on the mainland, one hour 15 minutes from Melbourne.”
He is talking specifically of the Baw Baw Shire, which is the most humid part of Gippsland and where irrigation is not necessary. He’s a firm believer in dry-grown vines, because of the intensity of fruit, retention of acidity, smaller berries and deep root systems which give consistency.
“The very high cost of growing fruit in this area probably deters some winemakers,” he acknowledges.
Patrick makes wine from small parcels of vineyard scattered around the Baw Baw Shire, which is in West Gippsland, in an area bounded by forested mountains in the north— including Mt Baw Baw—and the towns of Warragul, Drouin, Neerim South, Noojee, Erica and Trafalgar.
He makes several single vineyard wines while his blended wines are labelled Baw Baw Shire. One of those single vineyards is Bull Swamp, at Warragul, a mature vineyard planted in the 1980s which he shares with Bill Downie of William Downie Wines and Ryan Ponsford of Entropy Wines. Downie makes his wines in a winery located beside the vineyard. Part of the building is occupied by one of the region’s leading restaurants: Hogget Kitchen, helmed by distinguished chef Trevor Perkins. Having lunched at Hogget during my recent trip, I can attest to the quality of Perkins’s food.
Patrick Sullivan’s chardonnays are outstanding and have been reviewed consistently highly by The Real Review. One of the most surprising wines I tasted at Hogget was a 2024 Entropy Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from the Warragul vineyard, a delightful medium-bodied wine filled with black and purple fruits and—surprising from such a cool site—no sign of greenness.
Patrick Sullivan’s chardonnays are outstanding and have been reviewed consistently highly by The Real Review.But there is little doubt the finest wines from the region are the chardonnays and pinot noirs. Patrick makes single-vineyard chardonnays from Bull Swamp and Ada River (at Neerim South), and until recently pinot noir from Ada River and Millstream vineyards, but he has stopped making pinot noir to focus on chardonnay. He also makes chardonnays from Henty and Yarra Valley grapes, and has an entry-level range of wines from Limestone Coast grapes which he vinifies at Di Giorgio’s in Coonawarra.
Patrick’s early wines were sometimes a bit wild for my likes—I recall some cloudy, oxidative and quite eccentric wines, but everything I’ve tasted since the 2021 vintage has been of impeccable quality. Beautiful fruit is being turned into beautiful wine.
Patrick grew up in the Heathcote area of Victoria and studied viticulture at Adelaide University and mathematics at Melbourne Uni. He worked for various wineries in the Yarra Valley before heading to Gippsland, where it seems more than likely he will stay. I hope so.