Jo’s tale:
My winemaking skills began from a very early age. My Dad, James Irvine is known as the “Master Merlot Maker” and from the age of seven I followed him around the winery, undertaking the ritual tasting of ferments and wine blending. After leaving school, instead of following the natural path into winemaking, I studied to become a nurse. My career as an operating theatre nurse spanned almo
st two decades, until I had what I refer to as a ‘mid-life crisis’ and decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a winemaker. Whilst studying winemaking at university I was fortunate enough to work six vintages both in the Barossa Valley and in California, USA. In 2003 I started my own wine consulting business and in 2010 with my partner Peter, I established “Wine Wise”, a purpose built, small batch
processing facility in Nuriootpa Barossa Valley. “Great wines are created by the synergy and attention to detail both in the vineyard and in the winery”. We are passionate about the quality of the wines that we produce for our clients,and by providing specialized small batch winemaking facilities to many smaller producers we are able to create unique wines from their vineyards whilst reducing their operating costs. It is every winemakers dream to have their own facility and make the wines in their own style but it is a huge capital expense. By providing specialised small batch winemaking facilities to many smaller producers, we can reduce their operating costs, thus my customers can use their money to concentrate on wine sales.
