In 1973, Bob and Jill emigrated from Victoria to acreage on the Sunshine Coast, where they purchased a small pineapple farm. Back then (…the good ol’ days), the Sunshine Coast was a sleepy sea-side district with dirt roads as far as the eye could see, kangaroos, red-bellied black snakes, ticks and leeches galore.
Their property bordered onto a sugar cane farm which produced the most magnificent red-hot fires whenever the sugar cane was burnt and left the most interesting black soot marks on any washing left out on the line (to the chagrin of Jill).
Their property was lush. A green miniature paradise near the ocean. It is there that Bob fine-tuned his skills in irrigation and horticulture while tending firstly to pineapples, and later to avocado and lychee trees. It was this idyllic setting that Ewen grew up in that fed his craving to get back to acreage and establish Symphony Hill Wines after having spent a decade in Brisbane.
Bob recollects,
“Jill and I have very fond memories of the early days in the life of Symphony Hill, from clearing the land (mostly of rocks and rock icebergs) to the planting of crops to improve soil quality. The planting of vines, and installation of dams and irrigation systems was a major operation!”
Always looking to be creative, Bob worked with a local welding company to design a tractor implement to create the ‘V’ shaped inter-rows between each row of vines.
When the two Macpherson families settled onto the vineyard, Jill was the constant provider of delicious gourmet feasts to up-to four generations of Macphersons, refilling the much-needed fuel-tank of the men. The meals were typical of every romantic vineyard movie, minus the wine from that vineyard! But they fed the fires of expectation until the grand day our first vintage was uncorked in 2002.