Jan Taborsky
WINEMAKER AT TOPPER’S MOUNTAIN WINES
“The fact that I make wine now still amuses me. How lucky am I?”
When did you realise you wanted to become a winemaker?
I actually never thought I could be a winemaker. And I still don’t understand how I became one of them!
Please tell us about your career so far, including your education, work experience, etc.
I was forty years old when I moved to Australia from the Czech Republic with no winemaking experience in my previous career. The fact that I make wine now still amuses me. How lucky am I? I hope I won’t wake up one day to find that I was just dreaming! Working at Topper’s Mountain Wines allows me to make wine from many different varieties while working in a small, passionate team of fantastic people.
What do you love most about being a winemaker?
The constant challenge. Every day brings something new. It demands creativity, passion and willingness to learn all the time. Also, it seems that the industry attracts plenty of thoughtful and generous people.
What is your favourite wine, and what food do you typically pair it with?
I love sparkling wines made by the traditional method, mostly because they are a great match to almost every meal.
Is there a specific process you follow when developing a new wine?
For me, there are no templates in winemaking. But perhaps the most important thing when creating a new wine is trying to understand how winemakers traditionally work with the given variety in its place of origin and why they do what they do there.
Is there any vintage you’re particularly proud of creating? Why?
Not really. Every vintage is a massive challenge, and I’m always proud of the Topper’s team, including myself, especially if we all survive the harvest without any injuries or traumas. If our supporters enjoy the wine, then it’s even better.
How does the local climate/soil affect the wine you make?
Topper’s Mountain vineyard is almost at 1000m above sea level, which helps us to make a cool climate style of wine – elegant and fresh. We work with naturally high acidities, making wines that are savoury, rather than fruity.
Our deep, free-draining volcanic soil provides balance to the high precipitation in the area, which means less disease pressure, therefore better grapes and, hopefully, better wines.
At the end of the day, the wine is made in the vineyard – my job is just to get it into the bottle with minimal intervention, while capturing the essence of the vineyard.
Which of your own varieties do you typically indulge in?
Nebbiolo. The combination of the structure, elegance and distinctive flavour profile is unbeatable. I hope I’ll live long enough to understand nebbiolo better, so I don’t get scared to death every vintage that I would mess up the tannins.
Where do you see yourself in five years? How do you think your winemaking will evolve during this time?
Honestly, I see myself doing what I do now. Learning constantly while having fun doing the best job in the world. I hope that with another five vintages done, the experience will give me more confidence without losing the respect I have for the grapes. Because it’s all about the grapes in the end.
From Wineries of New South Wales – Issue 1, edited by Jess Muller