Dylan Grimes has found his sanctuary, and it’s no surprise that the 26-year-old enjoyed his most consistent season at the top level in 2017.
In October, 2016, Grimes and his partner, Elisha, purchased the Mount Macedon Winery, situated at the bottom of scenic Mount Macedon and the Macedon Regional Park.
The pair wanted to settle on a property that had a tremendous amount of history, and served their two loves — Dylan’s of the country lifestyle, and Elisha’s passion for the wedding industry.
Since then, they haven’t looked back.
“Ever since I started playing footy I knew that I wanted to get back to country, but stay within an hour of Melbourne,” Grimes told AFLPlayers.com.au.
“We found this place and just fell in love.”
Grimes has balanced the rigours of owning and operating a farm, and trying to perform at the highest level, which is a remarkable feat considering his inexperience on such a property.
Some days, he finds himself in the oppressive Victorian heat working on the farm, while other days he’s a plumber or a chippy.
“When I’m here, I’m never doing something all day or just the one thing, everything is so varied. It’s provided an awesome learning curve because there’s so much I didn’t realise that I didn’t know how to do until I came to a property like this.”
They host cocktail weddings that have the capacity to house 170 attendees, and sit-down weddings that look after 120.
In the video above, Grimes discusses the importance of finding an interest away from football and the reasons behind their lifestyle shift.
To learn more about the Mount Macedon Winery, click here.