Narkoojee Celebrates 45 Years
FROM GARAGE TO WINERY RESTAURANT
While completing a degree in Civil Engineering at Melbourne University, Harry Friend and his wife Val, together with like-minded friends looking for adventure, began visiting Rutherglen to attend the region’s newly established Wine Festivals.
The romance and sense of history were magic ingredients during their visits to the old earthen floor winery sheds and the legendary winemakers they met there. Harry soon became hooked and with his wife Val, decided to plant a half-acre pilot vineyard on Harry’s parent’s dairy farm at Glengarry in Gippsland.
For ten years, grapes from this pilot vineyard were harvested by Harry, Val and their enthusiastic friends and taken down to their residence in Melbourne to be made into wine using the garage as their first winery. The first wine they produced was three dozen bottles of a cabernet merlot in 1985.
Winning a gold medal at an amateur wine show encouraged them to expand the vineyard and to move up to the farm where their winery then became the old Glengarry Butter Factory. An old bungalow at the farmhouse that had previously served as a bedroom became their first cellar door.
After another ten years they finally built a real winery in 2004 on the farm and in 2013 they established a winery restaurant. Harry and Val had always regarded this as an important entity where they could showcase their wines in their proper context as complementary to food. The winery is now proud to boast a five red star rating by the James Halliday team and a Top Wineries of Australia rating from the Huon Hooke team.
Harry Friend began as the viticulturalist, winemaker, business manager and marketing manager. His and Val’s son Axel who had helped Harry from an early age, obtained an associate degree in winegrowing from Charles Sturt University. In 2013 he was appointed as the Chief Winemaker and Vineyard Manager and his partner Joanne became the Business Manager. Harry and Val continue to keep an experienced eye on the business in an advisory capacity. They often look back in wonder at the adventure it has been, establishing the Narkoojee brand.