One of the great things about Australian wine is that it’s ours. Buy a bottle from a genuinely Australian producer and you’re supporting our growers, winemakers, families and regional communities – people who have skin in the game and a vested interest in the future of Australian wine.
The other great thing? With remarkably few exceptions, many of our finest and most iconic wines remain within reach, at least some of the time. Jasper Hill’s Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz and Emily’s Paddock Shiraz Cabernet Franc – are a perfect case in point.
The vineyards were planted by Ron and Elva Laughton in 1975. They are estate grown, organic and dry farmed, and the wines are made entirely on site. Prices have remained unchanged for three years, while the business itself is still run by just three people: Emily Laughton (owner/Winemaker), her husband and one other employee. It is, quite genuinely, a family operation.
The winemaking is equally unfussy. Destemmed fruit, natural fermentation, long macerations of up to six weeks, 12 months in mostly seasoned French oak and little else beyond a small amount of sulphur. No make-up, no cosmetic winemaking – just exceptional vineyards allowed to speak.
The resulting wines are among the most distinctive and compelling single-vineyard expressions in Australia: powerful, savoury and deeply flavoured, yet fresh, detailed and remarkably energetic.
Emily’s Paddock is particularly fascinating. It is a co-fermentation of 93% Shiraz and just 7% Cabernet Franc – a tiny inclusion that has become a defining part of the wine. It’s also a neat reminder that the best blends can offer something a single variety simply cannot.
These are serious, long-lived wines, but they’re not serious in the po-faced sense. They are generous, multifaceted, savoury and full-bodied, with the freshness and detail to keep you coming back to the glass.
Fifty years in, Jasper Hill remains a remarkable example of what Australian wine can achieve when great land, family ownership and absolute conviction are allowed to run their course.
