When Michelle and Phillip Stivens bought what has since become the award-winning Heifer Station Wines back in 2009, they did so with a very different plan in mind.
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The vineyard had been locked up for the five years prior by its previous off-shore owners and as a result, became "overgrown, full of disease and covered in blackberries".
The couple's intention was to push the vineyard out, run cattle and retire.
But then something happened which changed their lives forever.
"Locals kept saying 'congratulations' on buying the vineyard. I asked my husband why they were congratulating us. Had they seen it," Mrs Stivens recalled thinking to herself.
"Everyone was saying it was one of the best located and best set-up vineyards in Orange."
It was then that they made a decision to give the wine business a crack.
But it wasn't as simple as pouring a glass of pinot noir.
"It took us from 2009 until 2012 to actually clean it up and get it back to some sort of state of production," Mrs Stivens added.
"We had no machinery, we would call on family and friends to help us."
More problems soon arose once they finally cleared the space.
The couple realised they weren't going to make money just by growing grapes and selling them to other people.
That's when they came up with their own label, Heifer Station.
After that, they realised once more they weren't going to turn a profit by simply selling their wine wholesale.
"We needed a cellar door," Mrs Stivens said.
The couple submitted a development application to Orange City Council which was approved, with one condition; they were told they had to widen the road leading to the winery at a length of 70cm by 180m.
"That took all of our money for what we were going to use to build the cellar door," Mrs Stivens added.
So they had to get creative.
After they searched high and low around the property, they turned what once was an old sheering shed into the much-loved cellar door known to us today.
Coming into the industry with "no experience whatsoever" turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"Our biggest success was being a family friendly cellar door," Mrs Stivens said.
"That came about by accident from us not having any experience in the wine industry because we started to visit all the local wineries to have a look at what they were doing in their cellar doors."
"We had family and friends who liked to visit us in Orange and they all had young children. But they wouldn't have felt comfortable taking their kids to those cellar doors."
That was in 2016 and things have certainly changed a lot since then.
"We wanted to create a cellar door where mums and dads could come and enjoy a wine tasting but the kids weren't sitting there saying 'can we go now'," Mrs Stivens added.
This mindset brought about the creation of the farmyard animals, the handball court, a giant sandpit and plenty of space for kids to run around.
Now, 14 years after first purchasing the property, the couple are set to retire after deciding to sell the business.
"We really want to travel and enjoy a slower pace of life," Mrs Stivens said on their plans going forward.
Throughout their time at the winery, Heifer Station has won many an award. These included gold at the NSW Tourism Awards for best cellar door and silver at the Australian Tourism Awards.
But throughout all of this, Mrs Stivens said the greatest accomplishment was using their business as a vehicle to drive fundraising for those less fortunate in the community.
But if you haven't had the chance to farewell the outgoing couple, fear not, as they have planned a final Big Long Lunch on September 2 "to say goodbye and thank you".
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