It has been almost five years since Kylie Sepos launched her small-batch craft gin brand, The Farmer's Wife Distillery.
Since the release of the first dry autumn gin, Sepos has produced gin for every other season and the brand's reach has grown far and wide.
These days, The Farmer's Wife Distillery can be found in every Dan Murphy's store across NSW. Sepos also has international gin awards under her belt, too.
In January, she launched the next phase of her vision for The Farmer's Wife Distillery with a purpose-built cellar door, restaurant and tasting room at Allworth, a small village 45 minutes from Newcastle.
Weekend bookings have consistently filled up and word is quickly spreading.
"It has been amazing," Sepos tells Weekender. "You know that saying, 'If you build it, they will come'?
"We thought January and February would be a bit slow because that time of year is usually quieter, but it has built up really quickly."
The Farmer's Wife Distillery cellar door is about 15 minutes along the Bucketts Way from the Pacific Highway in Allworth where she lives with her husband, Gavin, and their two children.
Creating a destination venue in the region to accompany the brand was always part of the plan, she says.
"When I first started making gin we were focused on getting the product right and making sure that this was something that was going to work as a business," she says.
"Once I was certain about that I was able to move forward on the rest of the vision.
"Very early on after visiting craft distilleries in Tasmania I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and that was really about having not only a spirit that told a story about where we were from but also having a place to showcase our region and what it is that we love about where we're from."
The cellar door is surrounded by towering gum trees and is designed to complement the natural surroundings with Blackbutt timber contrasting with silver ripple iron cladding.
It's a stunning building and the inside is equally inviting with its combination of timber, polished concrete, emerald green subway tiles and a sandstone fireplace.
Behind the bar is a copper still that Sepos explains is the one she used to create her first batch of gin.
These days it's a showpiece and a symbol of just how far The Farmer's Wife Distillery has come.
"That's our original steel. Gavin and I drove to Tasmania and picked up in the back of a ute," she laughs.
"We can do small batches in it if we wish but it is more of a showpiece. We've now got two beautiful new big stills in the still house in the shed just behind the distillery door where people can go for a walk around and have a look."
The restaurant is open from Wednesday to Sunday, with breakfast items and coffee available in the morning and a lunch menu offering share plates and farmhouse pizzas paired with gin tastings and cocktails.
The menu brings together everything Sepos loves.
"The way I've been brought up, whenever we got together with friends or family, it was always about sharing so the menu is all designed around getting together, sharing a meal, sharing a drink and sharing an experience," she says.
All four of The Farmer's Wife Distillery's seasonal gins (some of which are sold out) are available as a tasting flight, while other drinks include signature cocktails and gin goblets, as well as a selection of beer, wine and non-alcoholic sips.
Future plans for the venue include a permaculture farm, accommodation and a production space to distill whiskey.
- The Farmer's Wife Distillery is open Wednesday to Sunday from 8am to 5pm. Bookings are essential on weekends farmerswifedistillery.com.au
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