Daniel Mortimer | Mortimers Wines | General Manager
Interview & Photography Alice Armitage

Can you tell me a little about yourself and how you got into wine?

I’m one of five boys and my parents moved out here when we were little, not wanting to raise all of us in the city. At the time, this place was forty acres with just four fences. Our neighbour was a winemaker and slowly convinced Dad to plant some vines in 1995. In 2001, we got our first wine back. I was eleven and we all sat around in the family room trying it out. We were selling wine out of the house for the first few years and then we expanded to having a cellar door here on the property. 

You also have quite the rugby league legacy in your family right?

My dad was a very successful player, it’s a huge part of our story and who we are. 

So were you any good at rugby league?

I did alright. I went to Sydney to play when I was seventeen, straight out of school. I kind of hated growing up on a winery. It was so much hard work! But when I moved to Sydney, I realised that girls thought it was very romantic and I got a lot more interesting very quickly! I played in the NRL for about ten years, for the Parramatta Eels, then moved across to the Sydney Roosters. We won a premiership in 2013, which was a pretty cool experience. I had a stint playing for the Gold Coast Titans before spending a couple of years playing in England. It was after that I started my transition back to Orange and into the family business. 

What is your favourite part of the winemaking process? 

The wine we’re drinking today, I helped plant those vines when I was six years old. It gives me such a buzz that all of the hard work, that’s literally generations in the making, has turned into something that people really enjoy. It’s my favourite part of the process, interacting with people when they’re having that experience – no one comes to a cellar door in a bad mood! Being with people in the cellar door also allows you to see trends in your wine. You’re watching people’s reactions when they are tasting your product and you get to take that on board. Those interactions give you the information and feedback you need to continue to make the best wine possible and wine that people want to drink. It’s also the positive reinforcement that you’re doing something right. 

It’s very apparent that you’re connected to your family legacy and its role in how you produce wine. You have your own kids now, how do you feel about the future of that legacy?

It’s a funny one, isn’t it? Every decision is a family one and I would love for my girls to have a similar upbringing as I did. I mean it’s farming, family is so embedded into the culture of that and every bottle that leaves this place has our family name on it. You don’t get much more connected to legacy than that and I want to approach everything we do with pride for that name for a long time to come. 

What is it about the Orange wine region that you’re the most excited about?

There are so many wine regions that are really struggling. They’re pulling out vines and having a really hard time. But Orange seems to be growing in strength. It’s such a young region, relatively, with vines really only starting to be planted around here in the 80s, and individual labels starting to be released in the 2000s. The region is just really taking off. 

What is your favourite wine at the moment?

Definitely our cabernet sauvignon, 2023 vintage. Cabernet sauvignon are known to be your bigger, bolder reds, but the cool climate reds, like the ones grown and made here in Orange, are a bit lighter. There is something very elegant about them. 

What excites you the most about the winemaking industry at the moment?

There are a lot of challenges at the moment for the industry. There is a real oversupply of wines across Australia. A lot of that has to do with the export relationship we have had with China and new tariffs that have come into place. I haven’t been in the industry long, but when you speak to older winemakers they will all tell you this is a common cycle. Pair that with a few years that have been pretty tough in terms of the cost of living. I’m looking forward to seeing the other side of it. I’m excited for us to ride this out and to continue to see our business, and the industry at large, thrive. 

What advice would you give someone considering getting into the industry?

If you want to be rich, don’t worry about it. But if you want to live a good life, then it’s a great industry to be in. It’s like social agriculture. It’s a very positive environment. A very diverse environment. For me, it’s about a life well spent.