An embarrassingly unsuccessful meeting at the Vancouver International Wine Festival nearly stymied any future between Simon, a young Australian winemaker and Canadian wine-lover Neala.
It's lucky for this story that later that year mutual friends - unaware of the previous disaster - played matchmaker for the unsuspecting duo. This time sparks flew over a glass of Pinot Noir.
After working in wine in both British Columbia's Okanagan Valley and New Zealand's Marlborough district, it wasn't until starting a family loomed on the horizon that they decided to head home to Australia to put down some permanent roots.
The roles of 'Dogsbody One' (Winemaker/GM) and 'Dogsbody Two' (Sales) were up for grabs at a beautiful Lovedale property. Just 10 minutes after arriving at Molly Morgan Vineyard, the interviewer asked the styles of wines they would propose making. Simon answered "I'd like to make our Semillon ..." and Neala knew their fate was sealed.
2010 sees Simon and Neala in their third succesful year at Molly Morgan Vineyard, often enjoying a glass... or three.