BLOOMING FINE WINES
Glenn James was in his early 20s and happily working in the horticulture industry in New Zealand — where he was born and raised — until a mate shared some news that rocked his world.
“A friend said ‘you know you can get a degree in winemaking’,’’ James recalls of that moment in the late 1980s. “And I said ‘what?’.’’
That same friend went on to tell him about South Australia’s Roseworthy Agricultural College — Australia’s only winemaking school at the time.
“I sold up everything and jumped across the ditch,’’ laughs James, who turns 56 this week.
And he’s been living and working in Australia ever since, with his latest venture Shy Susan Wines leading him to split his time 50/50 between Tasmania and Victoria.
“I’m either a fly-in-fly-out winemaker or a fly-in-fly-out husband,’’ he jokes. “I spend half my time here and half my time at home with my wife in north-east Victoria.’’
James first came to Tasmania through his senior roles with corporate wine giants including Hardys, Penfolds and Treasury Wine Estates.
“My first introduction to Tasmania was wandering around various new and upcoming vineyards,’’ he recalls.
James is currently the chief winemaker for Tasmanian Vintners (formerly Winemaking Tasmania) as well as having his own uniquely Tasmanian label.
Shy Susan Wines was named Best New Winery at the prestigious 2020 Halliday Wine Companion Awards in Victoria earlier this month.
James sources grapes for Shy Susan Wines from a variety of his favourite vineyards across Tasmania, which allows him to “make the fruit speak”.
“To get an award not for one wine or one style but the whole brand is very exciting,” he says.
His winery has been growing slowly since 2016, selling 300400 cases per year across five varieties — Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and an Amphora Shiraz.
“It’s very satisfying, actually,’’ he says of winning an award for his Tasmanian venture.
“I love making wine, no matter where I am. But I guess Tassie really reminds me of New Zealand. In some respects it’s very similar to the South Island where I’m from.’’
He named the brand Shy Susan after hearing an ABC radio story about the critically endangered wildflower of the same name which is endemic to a small section of Tasmania, near Beaconsfield.
The flower’s survival depends entirely on a small native bees for pollination.
James sells his wines online and from his cellar door in Victoria. His Chardonnay has also been served at Mona.
Shy Susan Wines is located at Cambridge, and James lives at nearby at Acton Park.
His wife, winemaker Jo Marsh, runs Billy Button wines in Victoria’s Alpine Valleys wine region, a sister label to Shy Susan which is named after a native Victorian wildflower.