DREAMS OF MOUNT PLEASANT

When Jim was studying winemaking, he tasted a 1984 Mount Pleasant Semillon. He was so blown away by it that when he finished his studies, he applied to work at Mount Pleasant. It didn’t work out so he tried again in 1993 when he and his dad were travelling through the Hunter Valley and looking for work during harvest season. Second time around it still wasn’t meant to be. Jim got a job at Tamburlaine winery instead, Australia’s largest producer of organic wines. Being exposed to an organic approach to grape growing helped to shape Jim’s ‘less is more’ winemaking philosophy. 

But his fascination with Mount Pleasant hadn’t gone away and he was known to jump the fence a few times to get a peek at their vineyards. Over the years he worked in leading wineries in the Hunter Valley and Tasmania, each year adding to his library of winemaking experiences. In 2013, with 20 Hunter Valley vintages under his belt, a dream opportunity arose: the job of Chief Winemaker at McWilliam’s Wines, makers of Mount Pleasant Wines. 

As only the fourth head winemaker at Mount Pleasant since it was founded by Maurice O’Shea in 1921, Jim was responsible for upholding the heritage of this iconic winery and preserving its great vineyard sites. “There is such a strong sense of history at Mount Pleasant,” he says. “It’s like there is something in the air, something almost tangible. It’s inescapable for anyone that has worked there.”

Jim honoured the Mount Pleasant and McWilliam’s legacy, while taking the wines to a new level. He invested in the existing vineyards and planted new Mediterranean varieties like Sagrantino, Montepulciano, Mencia, Fiano and Vermentino. These were varieties well suited to the warmth of the Hunter Valley. In 2017 his work was recognised by Australia’s leading winemaker, James Halliday, when Mount Pleasant was named Winery of the Year. 

CHASING HIS PINOT OBSESSION

Jim was made Chief Winemaker for the McWilliam’s Wines Group in 2013. In 2017 he also took on the role of Chief Winemaker for Kreglinger/Pipers Brook in Tasmania.

He now oversees the entire Group’s winemaking efforts. He works closely with the team at Mount Pleasant, providing style direction and mentoring teams, but it’s a less hands-on role. That’s given him energy to focus on his own wine brand, Chatto Wines, which he and his wife Daisy started in 2000 while living in the Hunter Valley. 

Pinot Noir is Jim’s current obsession. He and Daisy live on their own vineyard in Huon Valley in Tasmania’s far south – a cold and very different climate from the warmth of Hunter Valley. Theirs is a “tiny vineyard making serious Pinot fun” and in a short amount of time, Jim’s produced extraordinary wines that have won critical acclaim. His 2017 Pinot Noir sold out in record time. 

Often it’s left to the younger generations to challenge the status quo and forge new paths. But not in Jim’s case. This experienced winemaker and senior wine show judge has been helping to define modern Australian wine for years, and he’s not slowing down any time soon. 

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