Vintage update #3: Jackson Brooke of Jackson Brooke Wines, Henty
With vintage well underway in Victoria's Henty region, I checked in with Jackson to see how life has been going for him in the rollercoaster 2020 season of bushfires, smoke-taint and COVID-19...
Q. How is this vintage shaping up in the vineyards of Henty? In particular, with the weather and fire conditions in summer and the current COVID-19 situation, how has this impacted your plans?
A. Henty was hit early with frosts, then some really cool overcast weather during flowering. This meant that despite avoiding smoke and having water, yields were down by as much as 70%. Fortunately for me, I’m receiving similar quantities of grapes from my growers and will have a vintage very similar to 19 as far as quantity with potential for higher quality due to low yields.
Q. In a time where we are likely to be staying home more often, what gems can we expect to find for delivery in your online store?
The Pinot Meunier is my fave at the moment, a light wine to lighten the heart!! Rosé is also always fun and the Chardonnay recently received a great review on The Wine Front. Wine is so subjective though so the one thing all my wines consistently do is match well with food. This means fine dining can certainly happen at home, wine and all!
Q. 2020 is already turning out to be a hard one to predict. But what new releases and plans does this year have in store for Jackson Brooke Wines?
I’m releasing the ‘Initials Series’ wines this year. These are premium wines that truly reflect the vineyard and vintage in the best way. 2019 had a chardonnay and the Syrah that fit this category. These are yet to be released and I’m really excited to see how they will be received. The Chardonnay particularly has serious wow factor for me. As far as 2020, I’m fermenting a Pinot noir again, this time from my favourite ‘Cooboboonee’ vineyard. I’m expecting at this early stage for this wine to also be an Initial Series wine as so far it looks extremely promising.
Looking forward to having Jackson back in The Wine Loop later this year…
More vintage updates coming soon.
Stay safe and home,
Karen