But there was something missing in Charlie's life, a void he knew he had to fill- a passion for winemaking that he could no longer ignore.

So, in 1999, he and Loretta established the DeSalis winery, which started off as a humble garage in a small cul-de-sac street.

Until they bought their own vineyard, the Lofty Vineyard, on Mount Canobolas 15 years ago.

The couple's passion for wine began early on, due to their European heritage; wine was enjoyed from a young age, while playing cards on the kitchen table.

"Wine was part of what we did in life," he said.

"It wasn't something you go and binge on, it was part of the culture."

But a career in wine was not something he anticipated, during the 1990s recession Charlie retrained as a scientist, specialising in microbiology, he became a lecturer at the University of New South Wales.

It was during his stint conducting fermentation research for the United States government, creating fuel ethanol from waste material, that his passion for winemaking truly flourished.

He said back in the 1990s some of his colleagues would experiment making food and drinks in the science lab as a side project "when it wasn't considered a work, health and safety hazard."

"We, socially as a school of microbiologists, would make sausage, cheese, beer and wine and the winemaker had passed on," he said.

"I threatened to make wine for years and years until my colleague gave me a barrel for my birthday.

"He told me to shut up and get on with it."

After receiving the barrel for his birthday in February 1999, Charlie's winemaking journey commenced, leading him to Orange to source grapes from Canobolas Smith.

With the help of his work colleagues Martin Ostrowski and Andrew Collins, they produced their debut wine, a barrel of Cabernet Franc, which won a medal at the Cowra show.

After securing a job at Charles Sturt University, Charlie and Loretta moved to Orange and eventually bought the vineyard, which is situated 1050 metres above sea level, producing grapes for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties.

"We'd gone from making wine at someone else's place to becoming serious and that was a major turning point," Charlie said.

Luckily for Charlie, he had the scientific knowledge and technical skills for winemaking, but he needed to work on developing his palate.

"We're minimalist, post-modern winemakers and we don't use any product in our winemaking, so you really rely on your palate," he said.

"Which is understanding the fruit structure, flavour and texture and how it will translate into a finished wine."

Along with developing your palate, Charlie emphasised the importance of hard work and attention-to-detail in order to suceed in the craft.

He said "when you enter the industry you become so embedded in the passion of the grape that you can't not make wine."

"In the middle of the night when you've been doing an 18 hour shift and there's a job that really needs to get done, you do it," he said.

"You just stay that extra hour and you deal with the problem."

The winery soon evolved into a family operation with Charlie's sons, Mitch and Ben taking on key roles.

Mitch now leads as head winemaker, while Ben manages sales and marketing.

Mitch said working for the family business took a while to navigate, but it has benefits, especially in the in the wine industry.

"We have a balance of mutual respect and trust when we work together," Mitch said.

"There's going to be differences of his palate, but I see my role as winemaker to preserve the DeSalis style that Charlie first created."

With his sons by his side, Charlie sees the future of the winery secured, but he doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon.

He's determined to continue improving the vineyard and passing on his knowledge to the next generation.

"I see a change of structure in my life, a chance to take the vineyard to a better place and keep an eye on things." Charlie said.

"But really, the boys are just fantastic."

To celebrate 25 years of making wine, the DeSalis family intend on having a party, opening some of the older bottles of wine they kept from their very first batches.

"We put a lot on the line to make a living from what we love doing," Charlie said.

"But luckily we did."