Jeff Aston
WINEMAKER AT TRACTORLESS VINEYARD
“For me wine is like music – there is always the perfect one for a particular occasion, food and time.”
When did you realise you wanted to become a winemaker?
When I finished year twelve, I was tossing up between being an outdoor education teacher and a winemaker. My father convinced me to get a summer job at a local winery to see if I liked the industry. I started a job with Clonakilla, where I spent my first three years whilst I studied, and now I’m almost thirty years in the industry.
Please tell us about your career so far, including your education, work experience etc.
After three years with Clonakilla, my first job out of university was with vintage winemaker, Pernod Richard. Then it was on to winemaking at Lerida Estate in Canberra, and then the creation of my first label, Even Keel, a joint effort with winemakers Alex McKay and Nick O’Leary. This was followed by a year with Yarra Burn, and a year at Chandon. I was driven back to the roots of winemaking in Georgia, Eastern Europe, considered the birthplace of wine. I spent up to six months of the year for seven years in Georgia, learning about traditional Georgian winemaking in a huge soviet-era winery. In 2010/2011 I began contract winemaking back on home soil in the Southern Highlands. My passion project gained a name in 2012 – Tractorless Vineyard.
What do you love most about being a winemaker?
It’s a great blend of science, being outside, working with some fascinating people and the art of creating a great wine.
What is your favourite wine, and what food do you typically pair it with?
Favourite wine is like asking your favourite child! I love so many wines, for me wine is like music – there is always the perfect one for a particular occasion, food and time. Depending on when, where and who I am drinking wine with and with what food, my wine choice changes but is generally something wild, rustic and funky.
Is there a specific process you follow when developing a new wine?
I like to embrace the wild Gemini energy and just let the creative juice fly!
Is there any vintage you’re particularly proud of creating? Why?
I loved some of the early 2002 wines I created with Clonakilla. They are still some of my favourite years of their wines, they still had that little crazy, dirty and funky edge I love. More recently, I have loved the range of orange, natural and preservative free wines we have been making. I really love the textural components you can push through these styles.
How does the local climate/soil affect the wine you make?
The more I work in the vineyards as we create our natural farming ecosystems, the more I realise this is really where the wines are made. The more balance we can get in the vineyard, the less winemaking we need to do – the wines almost make themselves when they are in perfect balance. In these instances, they really are a true representation of the climate and soil without me needing to do anything.
Which of your own varieties do you typically indulge in?
Tuesday night pizza and nebbiolo is one of my regular events!
Where do you see yourself in five years? How do you think your winemaking will evolve during this time?
I would like to be even more immersed in the vineyards. In five years time, I hope we have finally finished creating all our natural farming methods on all our vineyards and we have been able to eliminate the tractor. I would love to be making all the wines on each of the individual vineyards themselves, and would love to be making almost 100 percent orange, natural and unfiltered wines, full of texture and rustic charm.