Mulline

This is the venture of Ben Mullen and business partner Ben Hine, the derivation of the winery name self-evident. Ben Mullen grew up in the Barossa Valley and studied oenology at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 2012. His journey thereafter was in the purple, working at Yarra Yering, Oakridge, Torbreck and Leeuwin Estate, Domaine Dujac in Burgundy in ’13 (lighting a fire for pinot noir and chardonnay), Craggy Range in NZ (’15), coming back to Geelong as winemaker for Clyde Park in ’17–18. Here he made the wine that won the Shiraz Trophy at the National Wine Show (for the ’17 vintage) and the Geelong Trophy at the Australian Pinot Noir Challenge. Ben Hine also came from SA, and worked in hospitality for many years before obtaining his law degree; he is working full-time as a lawyer. When they met, it was he who took the running in creating the brand and the business structure behind it. In wine terms, this means a range of single-vineyard wines at the top, backed by the Geelong region range (and no wines from elsewhere). -JAMES HALLIDAY