BRENDA CHRISTIAN

HUNTER VALLEY chef Matt Dillow is nothing if not persistent.
So, when he bought The Deck Cafe in 2013 it’s fair to say he had his sights on buying the adjoining Gartelmann cellar door right from the start.
“Absolutely, I pestered Jorg Gartelmann pretty much every month to see if he was interested in selling,” he says, chuckling at the memory.
It took a few years – quite a few, in fact – but finally, in late 2020, Jorg finally agreed, deciding it was time to take a step back.
“He actually contacted me and asked if I was still interested,” Dillow says. “I was down there almost before he’d hung up.”
Fast forward a couple of years and both the revamped Deck Cafe and the Gartelmann cellar door are thriving – a must-stop for anyone visiting the Lovedale side of Hunter Valley Wine Country – overcoming everything the menacing trifecta of floods, Covid and bushfire could throw at them.
And Dillow’s energy and drive is right at the heart of it.
“I wanted to honour the Gartelmann brand but, at the same time, we’ve made some changes as you would expect,” he acknowledges.
“When Covid came along I took the opportunity to flip the cafe and turn it into an up-market tapas place without sacrificing its relaxed feel. And with social distancing we added some tables under umbrellas around the lake.
“Both the moves have proven really popular. We’re incredibly busy – it’s a good idea to book any time, but weekends especially. We serve our Gartelmann wines, which pair perfectly with the food. Invariably a lot of our customers will drop into the cellar door either before they eat to see what wines to order, or afterwards.
“The cafe and the cellar door complement each other.”
On top of that Dillow has introduced animal petting for the kids – “we’ve got alpacas, mini horses, Hereford saddleback pigs, ducks, chickens, goats … we’ve even got a baby lamb that pays the occasional visit to the cellar door” – and various improvements around the grounds.
“People say to me the place looks loved, which is nice to hear,” he says.
“Next up we have an amphitheatre going in which will be great for live music and various events.”
But if all that makes it sound like the wine side of things takes second place, don’t be fooled. The wines have never been better.
In that regard Dillow has relied on experienced Hunter cellar door man Jimmy Smith to run things, first as cellar door manager and more recently operations manager.
Smith, with extensive experience at Tulloch, Brokenwood and First Creek cellar doors, has definite views on what he wants, and it sits comfortably alongside Dillow’s vision.
“The goal is to make the best wine we possibly can,” Smith says.
“We genuinely believe our wines are improving right across the board. I think you’d be hard pressed to argue that point.
“They have always offered seriously good value for money – our two Reserve wines for example, the Lisa chardonnay is $50 and the Diedrich shiraz $55, which is outstanding value considering their quality. It’s a lot of bang for your buck.
“But now the push is on to lift the standard even higher.”
And there’s probably no better example of that than the current Gartelmann Rosé, which won the trophy for Best Rosé of Show at the 2022 Hunter Valley Wine Show.
“Bone dry, it’s a lovely wine,” he said.
The other thing Gartelmann have in their favour is their contract winemaker, Liz Silkman (First Creek and Silkman Wines), the only person to be named Hunter Winemaker of the Year three times.
“We know if we can get quality fruit to Liz, she’ll do the rest,” Smith says.
“She has been making our wines from the start and knows what we’re looking for, the style we want.
“She’s a terrific winemaker full stop, but an absolute wizard with chardonnay. We’re really excited about the state of our chardonnays right now.”
In the early days Gartelmann had its own vines on the property, but as age started to catch up with him, Jorg sold the vines, preferring to purchase fruit instead, which is still the case today.
So, aside from Hunter fruit, Gartelmann also take fruit from the Upper Hunter, Orange, Rylstone, Clare Valley and Renmark.
The range includes semillon, riesling, verdelho, pinot gris, chardonnay, shiraz, merlot, cabernet merlot, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, sparkling shiraz, blanc de blancs, a dessert wine, muscat, and a moscato.
“We’re looking to expand, but only if it fits with what we’re trying to do,” Smith says. “For example, this has been our first vintage of riesling.
“Liz was able to source some terrific fruit and it’s made in a dry, serious style which has done really well for us. Those clean, fresh citrus flavours follow on nicely from our semillon and is a natural fit.
“We have ongoing relationships with our growers and that has served us well. At the same time we keep an eye out for quality parcels of fruit that we can lock in.”
Dillow says that since the arrival of the riesling, he’s happy with the white range, but admits he would like to see another red or two added.
“I have a Mediterranean heritage, so I would like to see us expand with either a barbera or a montepulciano,” he said.
“And we’re increasingly finding in the Hunter that Mediterranean varieties do well here, so maybe that’s something for up the track.”
Smith also has his eyes on expanding, with the classic Australian blend of shiraz cabernet appealing to him.
“Some of Australia’s great reds have been shiraz cabernet blends. We get top shiraz in the Hunter and quality cabernet from Mudgee, so I think that’s something we could certainly look at.”
However, you look at it, Gartelmann is on the move. If you’re driving by, just look for the big magpie on the cellar door. Or the car park, which will almost certainly be chockers.