Add a shine to your holiday - with local fruit wine

The NSW Central Coast has long been a playground for Sydneysiders wanting to escape city life, whether it be for a simple day trip or a longer break.

It's attraction is the variety on offer. A vast array of waterways and beaches provide a multitude of choices for those who love their water sports, but there is so much more. It’s your call as to whether you want to be closer to nature – or good shopping – or whether you want great food and wine, or a chance to indulge in art and Aboriginal culture. Maybe you want it all! 

One destination that offers some different possibilities is Firescreek Botanical Winery at Holgate, where the wine is made from a wide variety of fruit – but not grapes

Firescreek Winery is a 2.5-acre ‘fruit forest’ set in the semi-rural suburb, tucked away behind Erina and about seven minutes’ drive from the Central Coast favourite, Terrigal Beach. It is part of 2560 acres known as the Matcham Estate, granted to Charles Horatio Matcham, a nephew of Lord Nelson. 

The creative mind behind the wines is Nadia O’Connell, who grew up on the Central Coast and returned to the area after spending nine years overseas with her husband. Her background is in tourism and events while husband Francis is an electrician, but they had always dreamed about returning to the coast and farming organically. When Firescreek came up for sale (as a working winery) seven years ago, it was serendipity.

“Francis has studied permaculture and when we first met, he used to draw pictures of the farm we wanted to have. Years later, the opportunity came up where we could take a change from what we were doing and we decided to go for it, and this is what happened.”

Aside from a bit of ‘dabbling’ in making their own concoctions years ago, neither has any prior training or experience in wine-making. Everything they started with in the business was learned from the previous owners who both had a background and careers in science – but not wine making. 

“They spent about a month with us after we bought this place," Nadia says, "teaching us all about what they did and how it all comes together, including managing the trees to maximise the yield.”

Nadia’s wines are created using small-scale organic/permaculture regenerative farming techniques without the use of heavy machinery. She grows more than 30 species of fruit, 40 species of roses and many other botanicals used in the wine making, meaning the winery can produce wine all year round, rather than relying on a single grape harvest.

“We usually have between 25 and 27 wines made at any one time and I try not to make the same every time. I try to push every year into wines we haven’t made before or, through my research, making wines, some of which that no-one has made before. 

“Some wines we do keep on making. There are a couple that are my favourites, like a raspberry, for example, but then the elderberry wine, I have done with cinnamon, violets or vanilla, just depending on what I think might suit it. 

“If I think it might need more flavour or aroma, I will experiment and change it a bit, so that’s how I get different variations. So the main fruit might be the same, but the wine will be different because I’ve tried something different.” 

Nadia says inspiration is not hard to find. She likes cooking, and experimenting with her cooking, so she’s always ready to try something different, to blend different flavours and see what happens.

“Sometimes it is as simple as me thinking ‘I wonder what nectarine and passionfruit taste like together’. I try them to see if I like the result and so we currently have Nectarine, Passionfruit and Elderflower wine.”

It’s the same process as wine makers working with grapes; they will blend different types of grapes to make different types of reds or whites. Nadia says she is luckier, because she has so many more fruits to play with, to try and get a better outcome, or just something different to what she has done previously with those ingredients.

“Sometimes inspiration comes from customers making suggestions when they are tasting a wine. They might say ‘what about this’ or ‘have you thought about that’ as a result of something the taste is suggesting to them. 

“And sometimes it can be a bit of research turning up a different idea. I was working on a plum one once and it was a bit boring and I thought ‘what goes with plum’, so I googled it and I remember coming up with mint, basil, rose and lavender. 

“I thought plum and basil might be a bit too bizarre for people and the same with mint, so I thought the flowers might be more appealing. I put it out on social media and people said ‘go with the rose petals’ and as we grow roses to use in our wines, I went with a plum and rose.”

Currently in the range is one that might raise some eyebrows. It is blackcurrant and coffee – but has absolutely no similarity to the blackcurrant Ribena drink so beloved by youngsters. Nadia says she had been making it for several years when she suddenly thought ‘that tastes a bit like chocolate’. 

The initial batch didn’t contain chocolate, but once she identified the chocolate tones, she bought some organic cacao nibs and added them to the next ‘brew’ with the result that the black currant and coffee wine currently in the range is made with black currants, coffee AND chocolate. (I tried it the day I was there and came home with a bottle! It is seriously lush.)

Creating the wines can take anything from 12 months to two and a half years, with most 18-20 months in production. Nadia doesn’t clear the wines with milk or eggs, preferring to follow traditional practice, which is all about time.

“It takes time to make everything settle, because some of the fruits I use are pulpier than grapes. Things like nectarines have so much fibre in them, and when you crush them that has to settle out of the wine. That’s what takes most of the time in wine making, waiting for sedimentation. The alcohol is formed at the very beginning.”

Supplies of wine come and go, too, because she is not pressing the same fruits at the same time. She tends to do seasonal vintages, according to what’s in season in terms of ingredients, and also to match the temperature. Wines featuring coffee and chilli are ready for winter drinking; the lighter ‘florals’ for summer.

As someone born in New Zealand, I was keen to know if she planned to do the kiwifruit and feijoa blend any time soon. I love feijoas and a friend who had tasted it had raved about it. Nadia laughed as she dashed my hopes. 

“No, probably not for another three or four years. That’s because it takes that much time to grow the fruit, and make the wine. I can’t do it this year, so that means it won’t be for another two years after that. Someone else rang me recently asking for three bottles and I had to break the news to her too, that I had sold out. It was very popular.”

Aside from growing her existing ‘forest’ of fruits and flowers according to solid permaculture practice, Nadia is open to new ideas. As a result, she has planted some indigenous plants and starting to investigate making wines out of plants such as lemon myrtle and mountain pepper. 

Firecreek offers a range of experiences, aside from the simple cellar door tastings. There is no cost for that, and no need to make a booking, unless it is for a group. If it is simply you on your own or with a friend, just turn up (see days and times below). But if you are coming for an experience, you need to book, and that can be done online.

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See below...

Chocolate and Wine Pairing - as it suggests, simply an indulgence with no work involved – handmade chocolates paired with appropriate wines – while the Foraging and Mixology Workshop guides you through the experience of foraging for edible flowers and other botanical garnishes before learning the layering and blending involved in creating a cocktail.

Winemaker’s Secret Garden Tour - a combination of part permaculture/part organic gardening/part wine tasting – and a visit to the production room to learn how the wine is made.

Aboriginal Story-Telling (and wine-tasting) experience - offering a very special introduction to a diverse range of Aboriginal history, culture and traditions and – season permitting – a chance to sample native plants and discover how Nadia has begun using them in her new wines. 

All these experiences can be booked on the website – www.firescreek.com.au – or by phone, (02) 4365 0768.

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Firescreek Botanical Winery, at 192 Wattle Tree Rd Holgate, is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 10.30am-4.30pm. It’s an easy drive (mostly motorway) from Sydney or Newcastle.

If you want to eat before or after your wine tasting, you could try the well-known vegetarian specialist café, Bamboo Buddha (https://www.bamboobuddha.com.au/), the winery’s neighbour (at 221 Wattle Tree Road) or Kew Dining (https://kewdining.com.au/, 414 The Entrance Road, Erina Heights) next to the Ken Duncan Gallery.

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©Liz Swanton