Kym's journey into wine began back when she was 17 and she asked her Dad what she should do when she grows up. They were walking past a newly planted vineyard on one of their many holidays down south and her Dad said “What about making wine?”
Ignoring her Dads advice Kym decided to complete a honours degree at UWA in horticulture instead. After completing the degree Kym headed off to Europe on a working holiday and spent time at a winery and got the taste for an exciting new career.
On returning home she started working at Vasse Felix, a stunning winery and restaurant in the heart of the Margaret River region. It was here she completed her Wine Science degree, put into practise the intricate art of wine making and fell in love with the chef. The next step was to start a family and during this journey into motherhood tragically her sister Pip was diagnosed with breast cancer and their lives were changed forever.
"Dream Bird was created as a tribute to my late younger sister "Birdie". Before she passed away she made me promise to live my best life, to remember her with a smile and to always have fun. "
The passing of her sister changed her view of life, and she realised working full-time for someone else and running a family was no longer an option. However, when she was presented with an opportunity to make wines part-time for "Naked Wines" she jumped at the chance.
Five years on and Kym still makes a big range for “Naked” but as Kym’s family grows up and she gains a little extra time, she has shifted her focus to create her own signature brand of smaller batch wine and sell directly to the public herself.
We know that you source fruit from surrounding areas. Can you give us an insight to how your amazing ‘Bees Knees’ came together and talk us through the process of how that beautiful pink colour and that delicious taste comes about.
I source fruit from a variety of vineyards. One vineyard in the northern end of Margaret River supplies my Vermentino. When sampling the Vermentino I noticed that they had grafted some Sauvignon Blanc vines over to Tempranillo. I contacted the owner to put my name down for some, thinking it would be perfect for Rosé.
We hand pick the fruit (my parents and some friends helped me do this) then take it to the winery, where it goes into a cool room for 24 hours. The next day, the fruit is tipped straight into a press, I gently extract the juice.
The colour of the rosé comes from the skins of the Tempranillo grapes. The longer you leave the crushed grapes on the skins, the higher the colour extraction. I press the juice straight from the skins to minimise colour pickup so you just get the lovely salmon hue in the wine. Once the grapes are pressed, the juice goes straight to barrels and left to warm up in the sun to start the fermentation process.
Your husband Aaron Carr now owns his own beautiful restaurant, "Yarri", which is a Humidity favourite. We were hoping you might give us your go-to dishes that complement your “Bees Knees” perfectly.
We are beach lovers so in our spare time you will find us there soaking up the sun or surfing! So when Aaron is at home cooking he likes to keep things super simple. Aaron swears by "Delicious Magazine" for tasty at home recipes. For entrée we might do a salmon tartare with wasabi, avocado and tempura leaves, served with ice cold 'Bees Knees'. Then for main course "Chicken Provincial" with shallots and garlic and a big leafy salad. Then finished off with a gooey Metricup Camembert from Yallingup Cheese. To be honest we open several different types of wine while entertaining, but we are always happy to rosé all day too!
Frosé and Rosé Cocktails are the IT drink for the up and coming summer. Do you have a favourite rosé cocktail?
One of my favourite rosé cocktails is a rosé sangria. You need one orange sliced, a punnet of strawberries chopped. Add these together in a pitcher, then sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar and leave for 20 mins. Then pour in a bottle of 'Bees Knees', 1/3 cup of Grand Marnier, a handful of mint leaves, half a lemon sliced in rounds then top up with sparkling water.
Recently you have finished vintage and we hear that it was a great season for grapes. Is there something new that you have been working on that we could expect in the near future?
I discovered a beautiful little vineyard tucked away in the hills of Donnybrook last year. They had some amazing looking chardonnay available so we handpicked it and drove it in the back of a super dodgy trailer back to the winery. It was put in the cool room for 24 hours before loading it into the press and gently extracting the juice, straight into large format oak - one new and one old. It fermented over a period of 21 days then I stirred them periodically for 2 months, then topped up the barrels and left them sitting on the lees to build texture. The wine will come out of barrels this month in preparation for bottling.
2021 Rocket Science Chardonnay: Will be released January 2022. Pop it in the diary folks as this one pairs beautiful with slow roast chicken, crispy roast potatoes, burnt pumpkin and charred broccolini drizzled with white wine jus.
2021 Ants Pants Malbec: I have been sourcing grapes from this vineyard for a while. The Malbec used to go in to "Murder in the Dark" Malbec 2020, a Naked Wines product. In 2021 the vineyard was leased by a big winery and I lost my contract, but managed to get a small parcel that I decided to keep to make a small batch for my other label. I fermented the grapes in upended puncheons to extract the oak character straight into the ferment. The result is a much more concentrated wine, dark and luscious. I cannot wait for it's release, hopefully around June next year.
It will be delicious with beef and blue cheese burgers.... yum!
For those of you keen to try the rosé Kym has the following offer available to Humidity customers only. Stay tuned to Insta for our delicious Frosé recipe.
6 Bottles - 10% off + $20 shipping fee.
12 Bottles - 20% off + free shipping
Use HUMIDITYROSE at the check out.
Visit Dream Bird Wines website here
Keep an eye out on our Instagram for our giveaway with Dream Bird Wines.
