Visit: Grandvewe Farm, Tasmania

ele HOME chats with Nicole Gilliver, co-owner of Grandvewe Farm, which overlooks the picturesque Tasmanian D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Here the family have taken using sheep’s milk to a whole new level, turning their farm into thriving businesses including cheesemaking, distilling spirits and sheep milk-based skincare.

Tell us about Grandvewe Farm and your family.

Grandvewe Farm is forty acres, poised sixty metres above the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in the idyllic south-west of Tasmania.

Grandvewe Cheeses was born from an idea hatched by the matriarch of the family, Diane Rae, in 2002. Diane, and her children, Nicole, and Ryan, have always had an appetite for taking the path less trodden and thus the Grandvewe Farm Sheep Cheesery was born. It was recognised by Diane in the late 1990’s that there was a trend away from cow-based dairy and that the market was now seeking a nutrient dense dairy alternative that didn’t come with the dairy protein and lactose-based reactions commonly associated with cow products.

As further impetus to the idea it was also around this time that the Australian cheese eating public had become increasingly aware of more exotic styles of cheese than the ubiquitous vacuum sealed rectangle of cheese and the market seemed to be increasingly interested in more European offerings. As people from a business background rather than a rural background we set about seeking to take advantage of what was perceived as a rising tide of interest not just in cheese but a tangible experience with the food producer, thus it was clear that a tourism-based farm gate model was going to be our best option.

Our family is an unconventional family of three comprising Diane Rae, Nicole Gilliver and Ryan Hartshorn as equal co-owners. We are at our collective heart very much the same, but as individuals very different. Thus, it was necessary that the three directors each carve out our own respective identities within the business which has seen the birth of three distinctively different brands/ products that all tie neatly back into our common belief system of making luxury sheep milk products inextricably linked to our DNA (pun intended) of ethics and sustainability in this space.

What is the philosophy behind Grandvewe Farm?

The philosophy of Ewenique Enterprises (comprising Grandvewe, Hartshorn and Ewe Care) is to constantly challenge commonly held beliefs around the manufacture and packaging of familiar products by pushing the boundaries of sustainability. Ewenique Enterprises, and Grandvewe, Hartshorn and Ewe Care by extension, seeks to engage consumers in alternate conversation around the beliefs of what constitutes sustainability and the next direction of its boundaries specifically with regards to sheep milk. We thrive on turning problems into high value solutions or, costs into revenue.

Grandvewe Farm is the home of several family owned and operated brands. Tell us more about them.

Grandvewe is the first value added sheep milk enterprise that we embarked on. At the core of its conception is an unyielding requirement to innovate and challenge and this has set the tone for the subsequent brands. Grandvewe Sheep Cheesery was founded on a system of poly culture and organic closed loop farming some 20 years ago when not much was known of such ideas. Every element of waste was closely examined to maximise sustainability and minimise carbon footprints. From deep litter composting shed floors to breeding the first ever commercially viable Australian dairy sheep to registration as the first (and still the only) dry floor factory. Factories use and waste huge amounts of water. Grandvewe only uses what falls from the sky. All water is either recycled or reticulated back into tanks for later reuse.

Hartshorn Distillery is a seven-year-old distillery born from a vision of Ryan’s to turn our biggest waste product, whey, into a highly valued distilled alcohol. With our DNA inextricably linked to creating value out of waste, which is a cost to business, Ryan took this opportunity in sheep milk whey and turned it into Australia’s most awarded vodka. Hartshorn Distillery broke the mold and won the title of World’s Best Vodka in its second year of operation and to this day it is still the only distillery in the Southern Hemisphere to have ever held this title.

Ewe Care was a pre COVID side hustle that launched in earnest as a highly functional natural sheep milk skin care range in July 2021, right amid COVID craziness. Ewe Care shifts lower solids milk less suited to cheese making into highly functional science backed skin care that not only highlights the intrinsic benefits of sheep milk for hydrating, calming, and reinvigorating the skin but, also challenges people to think hard about packaging by presenting the entire range plastic free and home compostable. Ewe Care has partnered with local ceramicist, Ian Clare, to package the range in hand thrown Raku ceramics burned with unique wool patterns, from waste belly wool, making each piece a totally unique and truly beautiful reusable bathroom ornament. All refills are packed in certified compostable sachets. As well as the superfood value of sheep milk for your skin, Ewe Care highlights the functional benefits of uniquely Tasmanian indigenous botanicals as well as Fucoidan Kelp found only in Tasmanian and Patagonian waters.

Did we see gin in the product mix? Tell us more about that.

Absolutely! Though Hartshorn is a dedicated vodka distillery we also make one gin. And we will only ever make one gin. We will make more vodka that pushes the boundaries of vodka as you know it because that’s who we are and why we roll out of bed. To innovate and push boundaries and set trends rather than follow. But we make one gin quite unconventionally, not surprisingly. For starters, we use our Sheep Whey Vodka as the base alcohol rather than commercial ethanol which gives an entirely different complexity to the exercise. We also vapor infuse each individual botanical individually, store them separately for a minimum of three months and blend them at bottling. All the botanicals are delicate Australian natives, two of which are foraged off our farm and not known to be used in any other gin.

Sheep milk not suitable for cheesemaking is repurposed into luxury skincare. Tell us more about Ewe Care and what makes the range so unique?

Ewe Care again exists to solve a problem. Sheep milk in skin care is scientifically proven to

reduce skin redness, has anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-aging properties associated with lactic acids which are gentle skin exfoliators. It is a veritable superfood for the skin and has three times the vitamin C of any other milk!

The problem we had was that milk at the start of the season was thinner, so lower yielding. Not ideal for cheesemaking though cheeses are certainly made from thinner milk, but this milk profile was perfect for skin care. Aside from the aforementioned benefits associated with sheep milk in skin care, we wanted to highlight some of the other natural Tasmanian ingredients in our formulas. Ewe Care is formulated with a plethora of Tasmanian native botanicals including Fucoidan Kelp, Coastal Tea Tree, Cape Grim Water and Tasmanian Mountain Pepperberry which all play an important role.

Is Grandvewe Farm open to the public?

The Grandvewe Tasting House is open to the public from Friday to Monday from 11am -5pm. There are three main experiences on offer, all of which are designed to take the visitor on a quirky journey of expecting the unexpected. The Tasting Tempter is a simple sensory experience giving the visitor an insight into our products and how they specifically relate to our story.

The Old World Butter Experience is a slightly longer offering whereby guests are invited to milk a steel sheep called Shirl (she’s a blacksmithing piece of local art). Shirl has an udder filled with milk that guests milk to start their butter making journey. Once Shirl has been successfully milked the guests work up a sweat hand churning their own butter that eventually is theirs to take home.

The Spirited Alchemist is the most academic of our offerings. Guests are given a booklet introducing them to the history of gin and explained the old world and new world styles and their respective fundamental blending techniques. At this point guests are invited to undertake an experience in the alchemy of gin blending which eventuates in their own unique 500ml blend that they can take home to share with friends and family, but not before they’re invited to decorate the unique black Hartshorn bottle with their own white pen. A unique blend and design of their own!