Natalie Fryar's Bellebonne claims victory at Halliday Wine Companion Awards

From the age of 12, Natalie Fryar knew that her heart belonged in a vineyard but she never knew how far it would take her.

"When you grow up in a wine region, it's just something that happens every year, you know the rhythm of the season and when the grapes are ripening and when the grapes are being picked," she said.

"My mum was a teacher and my dad was a baker I had no concept that we would have our own wine brands, even with all that experience and I drove myself very hard in my career, it was a very big leap [to this point]."

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After stints in South Australia, Victoria and Europe working for some of the preeminent wine brands, Ms Fryar settled in Tasmania, which she terms as "unparalleled" for winemaking in Australia.

While she admits that sometimes she wondered about the sliding doors moment, it created Bellebonne.

"I felt like I was happiest when I was here because I loved Tassie and I loved the wines from Tassie, I would feel torn every time I had to get back on a boat to go back to South Australia," she said.

"Bellebonne has gone from strength to strength, it's been a fantastic experience to create something from scratch and see it grow and get to be in place that I want to be."

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Alongside Bellebonne, Ms Fryar is part of the award-winning Abel gin team with Kim Seagram and Rod Ascui.

When discussing the intricacies of winemaking against the juxtaposition of gin distilling's relative speed, one can get a sense of Ms Fryar's passion for both industries.

There is eminent patience to winemaking, a rhythm that only those within the industry fully grasp.

Winemakers understand patience better than most creators with it being the key element to the maturation and change of flavours as well as the necessity in wine's elongated creation.

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As Ms Fryar explains that is never more clear than in the creation of sparkling wine, which combines a high degree of technical difficulty with the need for patience.

"I fell in love with sparkling wine, to me it's the most beautiful way to capture what happens in nature because it lasts for a very long time, it's very elegant," she said.

"The trick to making great sparkling wine is you have to wait, and wait and wait ... sparkling wine is very technical style, there's a lot of knowledge to be made to make good sparkling wines."

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Bellebonne proved worth the wait after recently claiming top honours in 2022 Halliday Wine Companion Awards' Sparkling Rosé varietal category and being a finalist in the best new winery category.

"When I read the name I was pretty excited, it's been recognised nationally that we can do these things here, that we can make these amazing wines," he said.

"We're so thrilled, absolutely thrilled about that."

That success dovetailed into husband Hugh McCullough's success with Wellington and Wolfe at the Halliday Wine Companion Awards capped a successful night.

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After being part her first winery vintage in 1987, some could be forgiven for wondering if the passion for wine had waned over the years.

Instead, Ms Fryar is determined to evolve the Bellebonne brand into something better.

"I think we can keep evolving, I think we can make our wines better," she said.

"It's a great joy and the great challenge of winemaking is there is always something you can learn."

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