8 Questions With Jeremy Gordon of Amelia Park Wines
by Kerlyn Tan
@ 14 Oct 2016
Over a lovely lunch at the Tower Club, Singapore, we got a chance to try a food and wine pairing featuring Amelia Park wines. We spoke with this young but successful brand's wine maker-cum-owner, Jeremy Gordon, to find out more about his passion, the route to success and the future.
Q : How did your passion for wines come about?
A : Agriculture has always been my interest and at 21 years old in 1989, I completed my first vintage at Evans and Tate. That was not only a highly challenging and exciting time but also, a hugely rewarding experience as the results from the hard work could realized and actualized in a bottle of wine.
Q : How did the idea of starting a winery then come about?
A : After working in a number of vintages in Western Australia and New South Wales at various wineries, I saw an industry that had the potential for evolving as many vineyards were established and an increasing number of people with knowledge and experience. People would eventually start looking into crafting smaller and more unique quality wines while the bigger wineries would continue with the large production.
Q : How Amelia Park has achieved so much success in just 7 short years which is no easy feat.
A : Amelia Park’s success due to the opportunities I have had in the industry. I have also gathered what I think are the vital elements for high quality wines. There is also two other people who have made the accomplishments of Amelia Park possible - my wife, Daniela (pictured above), who is responsible for branding and marketing as well as the running of our business and our business partner Peter Walsh, who shares our commitment to quality
Q : How has your work with some of Western Australia's biggest and most successful wineries influenced your work at Amelia Park?
A : Working at some of Western Australia's biggest and most successful wineries has allowed for me to appreciate the quality and uniqueness of individual sites and vineyards. Not forgetting, there is also a commitment to detail that starts at the vineyard and ends at the bottle in order to accomplish quality and consistency.
Q : How have things changed for Amelia Park since moving from contract-grown grapes to your own grapes?
A : Actually, Amelia Park still has three other vineyards under long-term contract and this is in addition to Amelia Park’s estate grown fruits. I cannot emphasize enough just how important quality and consistency is to us and this concept of contract-grown grapes supports this value. When our brand begin in 2009, the focus was to secure high quality vineyard(s) in the areas I had identified as ‘the best’ for the styles of wine that Amelia Park is going to produce. To this day, the quality of the vineyard’s grapes are the key to quality wines and contract-grown grapes definitely helps in defining us and our future.
Q : What are some developments at Amelia Park that we can look forward to?
A : We have recently completed the construction of a new winery and cellar door at our property on Caves Road in Margaret River and we will be opening our restaurant in May 2017. We look forward to welcoming you to dine with us as there will be an amazing view of the Wilyabrup Valley so come prepared to relax and enjoy the wine paired with food made with only the best local produce.
Q : Is Margaret River wine evolving? If so, tell us about some recent changes in the region.
A : Yes, Margaret River wines are definitely evolving with the many smaller producers making an entry with its unique crafted wines. There are also iconic brands from the area that are striving to improve on their respective wine styles. Take Chardonnay as the best example - many producers have an endeavour to create a style is that is more refined and subtle whilst retaining the Chardonnay’s complexity.
Q : Which of your wines would you recommend for a wine-beginner?
A : Our portfolio carries the entry level range Trellis and moves to our premium range and then the reserve range. For beginners who would like to try the Trellis range, we recommend our 2016 Trellis White, a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend that is aromatic style clean fresh aromas with a light crisp palate. We also recommend our 2013 Trellis Red, a blend of Cabernet and Merlot aged in older French oak barrels for 9 months and has lovely bouquet with a soft, velvety palate.
Find out more about Amelia Park Wines at :
https://ameliaparkwines.com.au/trade/
