Alasdair Sutherland

Born and bred in Scotland, Alasdair moved to Australia at the age of 10 in 1966. He was introduced to the wine industry by an old family friend from Scotland who was the vineyard manager at Arrowfield in the Upper Hunter. After three and a half years as Cadet winemaker at Arrowfield he took up a position as Assistant winemaker with Saxonvale Wines at Broke. Within the next two years he had been promoted to Chief winemaker and remained at Saxonvale until 1989. The early nineties saw he and Trish on the NSW north coast where they owned and operated Pippis Restaurant before they both returned to the Hunter Valley in 1994 for Alasdair to take up a position at Calais Estate. Capercaillie very quickly became a reality in late 1995 when they built their new modern winery in just 72 days on the former Dawson Estate vineyard. During his 30 years in the wine industry Alasdair has built a solid reputation for making quality wines.

Alasdair's wife Trish trained in Sydney in the restaurant industry and graduated with an Associate Diploma in Hotel and Catering Management. She moved to the Hunter Valley in 1978 and worked in local restaurants whilst also running her own outside catering business for 12 years. She was the chef for their restaurant in Yamba and in Port Macquarie in the early nineties and it was during these years that her interest in art was rekindled. She attended several watercolour workshops and later expanded into acrylics and mixed media, becoming more adventurous with both subject and technique. Her background in both hospitality and art have proven to be a great match for the Gallery at Capercaillie where her original paintings are often displayed.

Fitting the image of many young Hunter winemakers Dan has a love and passion for their region. Born in Vanuatu to French parents, he travelled to France after finishing high school. His interest for viticulture began after picking grapes outside the small village of Colmar in the region of Alsace. On returning to Australia he completed his Diploma of Viticulture and landed his first job at Bimbadgen Estate. Since joining Capercaillie in 2003 Dan has been instrumental in developing additional contract winemaking services as well as improving viticultural practices. He has experienced a vintage in New Zealand's Hawkes Bay, been a trainee associate judge at the Hunter Valley Wine Show and in 2005 was a finalist in the Australian Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year.

The four legged 'Hostess with the Mostess' is always on hand for meet and greet duties at Cellar Door. She is a golden Labrador keen to let everyone know when visitors arrive, always ready for a game of tug-o-war with the rope and an ever willing helper when it comes to cleaning up any morsels of food that may hit the ground. Ceilidh is always in demand for photographic duty featuring in the Wine Dogs book and most recently in Japan's leading women's magazine.

The rest of the gang

The rest of our small team include Julie, Gail and Amanda always there to help with any enquiries or guide you through the range of wines when next you visit Cellar Door.