Cellar Door Conversations: Greer
A Personal Vision
Deciding to go out on her own to start a wine company was a brave and ambitious step for Greer Carland, winemaker and owner of Quiet Mutiny. But like Charlotte Badger, the woman behind the “Quiet Mutiny” story, Greer was determined to choose her own destiny.
The scope and scale of winemaking can be overwhelming to even a seasoned connoisseur. The confluence of variables that must be addressed for a single vintage is baffling – climate, weather patterns, fruit, soil, aging, processing, the list goes on. Understandably, it can often be easy to lose sight of the artistry and expression that can be swirling around in each glass.
Greer Carland has had an abundance of opportunities to bring wine to the world, over the years. She grew up on her parents’ vineyard. She spent twelve years making wine for Winemaking Tasmania. And, she’s made wine in Chile, America, France, and on the Australia mainland. But, it wasn’t until she started Quiet Mutiny that Carland truly began to express, fully and completely, her own vision.
“My wines reflect my personality. I’m mostly classic – but a little bit funky too. They’re ‘modern classic’, I think? Is that a thing?” Carland laughs. “My Riesling is a good example. It has 25% that has gone through wild ferment. It gives it layers and a unique complexity. But, the rest of the wine is classically fruit-driven, cool climate Riesling.”
“I want to make my wines inclusive. You don’t need to be a wine intellectual to appreciate them,” she says. “I just want to ensure it has a pedigree; reliability and consistency. That’s what my customers are looking for and expect. It’s about building a brand that people can connect to and trust. I want to make wines that speak of place and are honest and reflect Tasmania.”
Carland’s brand, fittingly, takes its name from a quintessentially Tasmanian act of rebellion and independence – convict Charlotte Badger’s seizing of the prisoner transport ship Venus, accomplished while its abusive captain was ashore exploring Tasmania. It’s a metaphor for the seizing of destiny, regardless of the powers arrayed against your vision.
“For a long time, my husband and I wanted to have our own brand. We had our own little fairy-tale of owning a vineyard and creating our own brand. It wasn’t as straightforward as that,” Carland says. “It was only when some structural changes were happening at my workplace, back in 2016, when I was offered a redundancy – that was the catalyst for me taking the step I’d always dreamed of.”
“When the redundancy came about, I was initially thinking: “What am I going to do? I am a winemaker. I need to make wine”. And, it was at that point I realised I needed to start my own Quiet Mutiny – a mutiny against my own life, up until that point – and have the audacity to decide my own destiny. Just like Charlotte.”
And the rest, they say, is history.