Plan B! Wines

FRANKLAND RIVER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Bill Crappsley and Terry Chellapah got bored with the wine trade and decided to make some wine. Bill has been making wine for almost 50 years in Australia, winning shiny trophies and Terry runs the business when not playing the bass guitar... 

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TEN QUESTIONS WITH WINEMAKER BILL CRAPPSLEY

What is your first memory of drinking wine?  In March of 1964 as a 17 year old I, with my parents and brother visited Sydney and stayed with my uncle, Hal Missingham, then director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales. Hal, among many things a wine a food enthusiast, he was a foundation member of the NSW Wine & Food Society and introduced me to the pleasures of wine as an accompaniment to food. It was with Hal that I tasted my first Hunter Valley Semillons and I've been a big fan of these wines ever since.

If you weren't a winemaker, what job would you do?  I would've probably persued a career in art.

What is your favourite book?  My favourite book, that's a hard one. I'm quite an avid reader so there are numerous books from which to choose. "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusac is certainly one of my favourites from recent times.

Describe yourself in three word  Happy, responsible, compassionate

Name your favourite city and why?  In Australia it's Melbourne for its wine and food culture, internationally I love Barcelona.

What is your most prized possession?  A painting entitled "River Mouth" by West Australian artist Helen Grey-Smith.

What are the best, and worst, wines you've ever made?  Best: 1995 Sandalford Margaret River/ Mt Barker Chardonnay. Worst: probably flagon dry white made from Pedro Ximinez when I was working in the Barossa Valley in the early seventies.

What is your most treasured possession?  Another painting entitled "Calgardup Beach" by the aforementioned Hal Missingham. This is the beach where my Margaret river property meets the Indian Ocean

What was your favourite subject at school?  History and looking at the surf from the high school class room.

Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be guests at your dream dinner party, and what would you be drinking?  Jack Mann (Dec) my mentor when I began my career at Houghton Wines in 1964, Hal Missingham artist (Dec) and Bob Dylan.

Bollinger La Grande Annee, an aged (min 10 years) Hunter Valley Semillon, an aged Barolo and 1975 Chateau d'Yquem.