Shaun Crinion
MAKING WAVES
Shaun Crinion is a Chardonnay-obsessed surfer who went from complete novice to award-winning winemaker in less than a decade.
People are buying Shaun’s wine faster than he can make it. Under his label, Dappled, Shaun puts everything he’s got into his wines, and today he’s one of the Yarra Valley’s brightest young stars. Shaun’s winemaking approach is minimal intervention but maximum attention to detail, allowing him to capture an entire year of work in each bottle.
Wine with heart
Wine culture wasn’t much of a thing on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast where Shaun grew up, but surf culture was. And that’s what led him to winemaking. It was 1999 and 18-year-old Shaun was on a surfing trip through California and Mexico. Needing cash, he worked as a cellar hand in a Californian winery where his uncle worked.
“It was so interesting, because I’d never drunk wine and I went straight into this amazing vineyard atmosphere that was very science-orientated and hands-on,” says Shuan. “So that's when I got hooked.”
That job in California changed the course of Shaun’s life. He spent the next decade working with some big-name wineries overseas and in Australia, including in Tasmania, Margaret River and the Yarra Valley. In 2009, Shaun launched Dappled, setting out to make “high-quality, unadulterated wines from special patches of dirt at realistic prices”.
“I just really wanted to have a creative outlet through my own wines,” says Shaun. “When you work for people, you never feel like you’re fully expressing yourself. So Dappled is me.”
Shaun’s wines include Pinot Noir, Syrah (Shiraz) rosé and Chardonnay – including a savoury, out-there wine that’s exposed to oxygen and aged for almost five years. Shaun’s been listed in the Young Gun of Wine Top 50 for three years, and Dappled was James Halliday’s 2018 Best New Winery. All that while parenting two young kids with his wife, who runs her own company.
“Wine is something where every little thing that you do in the process comes out,” says Shaun. “And if it’s just you making it, it’s a snapshot of your work for that whole year. I’m the only one making my wine, so I put my heart and soul into it. If there’s authentic wine, this is it, because it's my blood, sweat and tears.”
“I’m the only one making my wine and I put my heart and soul into it. If there’s authentic wine, this is it.” – Shaun Crinion
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