TESSA BROWN

VIGNERONS SCHMöLZER & BROWN, BEECHWORTH, VIC

Tessa and partner Jeremy Schmölzer settled in northeast Beechworth about six years ago, tending to their own Thorley vineyard, while also working with fruit from surrounding vineyards as their site matures.

ON 2020:

We got our berry sample results back and it’s unambiguous that we will not harvest any fruit from our vineyard due to smoke taint. I can’t speak for other producers from this part of Victoria, but for us, it’s absolutely clear. We will still do a harvest this year, though. Two days after thick smoke hit, we started sourcing alternative fruit. Our business is still quite young, so we can’t really afford to skip a vintage. We’ll make wines from Mornington, Yarra Valley and Heathcote, and put them under our label, but with a clear differentiation. It will give us a different story to tell this year.

ON THE EXCITEMENT:

Oh, it’s a birth! It’s an annual cycle like most things agricultural. Sure, it’s work, but nothing worth anything that is creative typically comes without effort or practice. Jeremy and I are getting better at managing the adrenaline as the vintages clock up. We’re not quite a welloiled machine, but we’re getting better, and we’ve evolved as to who does what. I’d say we make a good team. This means that a lot of it is to just turn up, take it step by step, do the dance, herd your ferments, clean up and repeat, which is great. And then after six or so weeks, the tempo slows, the leaves turn colour and it settles and cools.

ON HER FAVOURITE BITS:

For us, it’s the process of the gradual reveal that is most enjoyable about vintage. That’s not so much the case this season because we won’t process fruit from the Brunnen or Thorley vineyards, but you generally work with a site through the growing season.

You observe and respond to conditions, and sort of herd your vines through to picking, and then vinification reveals a bit, then elevage reveals a bit more about what is the essence of the season. These are things like structure, perfume and density. It’s also fun that we have someone else help us each year, and you get to make a new mate and mine their Spotify playlists for new gems. Also, shower beers.

ON HER LEAST FAVOURITE BITS:

At the moment, because we have a young family, it’s probably juggling all the logistics between us, and the long hours, the little people and the rest of life besides the actual work.

ON PREVIOUS DISASTERS:

For such a ‘rustic’ set-up, we’ve been pretty lucky, which is important because we started with such tiny quantities that we couldn’t really afford to lose any wine. Early in my career, though, I failed to secure a tank door at Hardys Kamberra and we lost about 2000 litres of Hilltops merlot! I also once drove a forklift with the mast too high through the coolroom door frame when I worked at Kooyong, making the door height go from three metres to five when it was fixed. I still feel horrified about that.

ON THE CURRENT FOCUS:

We’ll be working with some Mornington Peninsula pinot fruit this year. I worked for Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate as cellar manager/winemaker from 2009 to 2013, but I haven’t touched Mornington pinot since then. We’ve found Beechworth pinot to have quite different characteristics, so it will be interesting to see if it’s like riding a bike, getting fruit from a region that was once so familiar. We’re also really enjoying exploring riesling and we make a few from the Croucher Whitlands vineyard – dry and more of a kabinett style, plus a slightly later-harvest version. We’ve planted riesling at our Thorley vineyard and we had a decent amount this year, so we expect a nice crop in 2021. The other real focus on the horizon is nebbiolo – another variety we’ve planted. I’ve adored the variety for years, so unravelling how to make it well is going to be a rad project in the coming years.

It’s an annual cycle like most things agricultural.

Sure, it’s work, but nothing worth anything that is creative typically comes without effort or practice.

Tessa Brown