JIM CHATTO
No two vintages are the same, and it’s your one chance a year to make wine.
Jim Chatto
CHATTO WINES, TASMANIA
Jim is group chief winemaker for McWilliam’s Wines, but we asked him about his own label. Jim and wife Daisy first planted vines in Tasmania in 2007 and settled there three years ago.
ON 2020:
It’s looking really good here. We lost our entire crop last year to smoke, so this crop is really important. The vines are looking good despite it being hot and dry – Hobart was 40 degrees last week! I never like to call it before we get in the winery, but I’m pretty excited. We think we’ll pick around the middle of April – we’re running about two weeks behind. Up in the Hunter, once you get through Christmas, you’re straight into thinking about vintage, but down here, it’s really not until about April.
ON THE EXCITEMENT:
I think every vintage is a virgin experience in that there's always something new to discover. No two vintages are the same, and it’s your one chance a year to make wine. It’s my favourite time of year – everyone’s busy and you get that adrenaline rush. You’re picking the grapes and making the wine, and not doing all the other stuff. You always have the perfect excuse not to have that meeting.
ON HIS FAVOURITE BITS:
Picking! I really love harvest day. We usually do it in a couple of picks, but it’s on one key harvest day when all of our neighbours come and help. We cook up a big lunch and we pick until it starts to get warm, then break and have lunch – that’s the bit I love the most. I also like heading over to the winery late at night. I’ll put on some vinyl and check the ferments, and quietly go about tasting, smelling and plunging the ferments. I used to love the pace and excitement of vintage at big wineries, with lots of people and the camaraderie, but now I really relish the quiet. I’ve been making wine for nearly 30 years, but doing it from your own vineyard is a totally different thing.
ON HIS LEAST FAVOURITE BITS:
The end! There’s a melancholy that comes with the end of vintage. You’re in that zone and so focused, and then when it all stops, you get a little bit of the blues. I always get it. I certainly don’t want harvest to go on forever, but I guess it shows that vintage really is my favourite time of year.
ON THE HOURS:
The timeframes are exactly the same here as a big winery, but it’s a little more leisurely. I’m still checking ferments first thing in the morning and last thing at night, but the big difference is I have to do it seven days a week. For about 10 or 15 years, I’ve had an assistant winemaker and one of us worked Saturday and the other worked Sunday. But it’s a different pace, and I’ve set up our little winery to run at a good pace and never have to compromise quality due to logistical constraints. Hours seem to pass like minutes at vintage. You’re busy, you’re having fun, and next thing you know it’s 3am and you’re still smiling.
ON PREVIOUS DISASTERS:
Mistakes happen at harvest. Running a winery is all about minimising or mitigating them. You can do all the training in the world, but you can’t account for human error. One beautiful accident was an unintentional blend that ended up winning major awards! During vintage, people get tired and distracted, so I’ve learned to give everyone enough of a break so they can think clearly. And on the day before casuals finish up for vintage, I’ve also learned to tell them that I’ll pay them for their last day, but not to come in [after an inevitably big night].
ON THE CURRENT FOCUS:
We specialise in pinot, and make two different wines from our site. One is a blend of all eight clones we have planted here, and the other, Isle, is a wine made from only the best bits that reflect our site, according to me. Now we’re branching out and making single vineyard wines from the Huon Valley, Pipers River and Tamar Valley. From the 2019 vintage, we’ll also start to make a Tassie pinot, which is a multi-regional blend. We started with one wine, but these days I spend most of my working week on our property. That’s really exciting to me – to turn our little dream into a business.