Hanging Rock Winery’s 2021 ‘The Jim Jim Three’ pinot gris gewürztraminer riesling has taken out the Blended White Trophy at the National Wine Show of Australia.
The wine show is an invitation-only event, showcasing the best wines from other wine shows throughout the year, which makes the winner the best in Australia in each category.
Ruth Ellis, general manager of sales and marketing, said the win came at a momentous time in the company’s history.
“Last week our founders, John and Ann Ellis, celebrated the 40th anniversary of owning our estate, Macedon Ranges property ‘The Jim Jim’,” Ruth said.
“In 1982 the property was purchased as a bare block of land. The early 80s were an exciting time in the Australian wine industry.
“The pair were looking to make their mark on this burgeoning industry. At the time cool climate viticulture was just getting started.
“They could see there was a gap in the market for high-quality, traditional-method sparkling wine along with other varieties.”
John had already made his mark in that space by making the country’s first-ever cool climate chardonnay from the Mount Helen vineyard in the Strathbogie Ranges while working for Peter Tisdall at the Tisdall winery.
Ruth said buying the Macedon Ranges property was the opportunity they needed to make a stamp on the industry for themselves.
“The ‘Jim Jim’ vineyard is situated at 650mt elevation on a south-facing slope facing Mount Macedon. The soil is eluvial basalt,” she said.
“We receive an average of 750mm of rain a year. We believe it would be one of the top coldest vineyards in the country.
“Over the years the makeup of our estate vineyard, ‘Jim Jim’, has changed.
“During the 90s we decided to plant a half-acre block each of some aromatic cool climate white varieties, namely pinot gris, gewürztraminer and riesling.
“While these wines were initially made separately, in 2011 (chief winemaker) Rob made the decision to blend them together in a traditional Alsatian-blend style. It was then that ‘The Jim Jim Three’ was born.”
Last year marked a major milestone for John and Ann’s son, Robert. It was his 10th vintage as chief winemaker at Hanging Rock Winery.
Rob and his sister Ruth grew up, quite literally, in the winery, with the winery and the house being the same building.
After secondary school they both went off to study and see the world but by 2011 they had both come back and took over the day-to-day running of the winery.
