Graeme Leith is one of those rugged individuals who were prepared to put everything on the line for a gamble: to grow grapes, to make the best wine they could, and then sell it in sufficient quantities to make a living. He'd first expressed some interest in the process of fermentation at the age of seven or eight which saw him sent home from Sunday school.
In the early sixties he worked his way around Europe, finally tasting some superb wine in Italy, and the dye was cast.
Years later he and his kindred spirit and partner Sue Mackinnon established a vineyard at Kingower, beyond Bendigo and after the predictable trials and tribulations to be expected of such a venture they won a gold medal with the first wine they showed and so laid the foundation for what was to become the iconic Passing Clouds label.
In semi-retirement Graeme finally put pen to paper and began documenting all his stories. In 2015 “Passing Clouds A Winemaker’s Journey” was published - heartfelt and heartbreaking, humourous, Passing Clouds tells a life fully lived - a life embracing fatherhood, triumph and disaster, joy and tragedy, sheer hard work and, above all, an unquenchable optimism.
In 2018 Graeme can now be found living amongst the vines overlooking the winery in the house on top of the hill at Musk. Even in retirement mode he still looks forward to each new vintage with a sense of excitement and anticipation of another new wine to taste, savour, to drink, to enjoy, to talk about and to share with friends.
