Jilly Wines

Jilly is a story of small-batch, seasonal and creative winemaking, where each vintage is the product of a time and place, and a thought, or feeling pursued: a spirited endeavour that bottles a time of inspiration and experimentation; a moment captured to never be reproduced in the same way, again. An extension of the mind and heart of Jared Dixon, Jilly Wines are hand-made in Clunes, New South Wales, to inspire, celebrate, and enjoy.

A pioneer of place and product, Jared is referred to as ‘The Lone Ranger’, – his wines are made from interesting varieties grown on unique vineyards, forging a path unknown in the country of New England and now with a fruit salad patch at Clunes.

His winemaking is extremely hands-off, allowing the full expression of the fruit to be the focus of every wine, an endeavour that ensures the experience is a colourful and vibrant ex- pression of time and place. Surrounded by an inclusive community of wine makers, distributors, and friends, the wines are like the company they keep – they are fun, don’t take themselves too seriously and have a distinct energy about them. Jared is one of Northern NSW’s most exciting and impassioned young winemakers, and where the path leads is anyone’s guess.

Jilly’s home ground of New England is unlike any other grape growing region in Australia, and much of this is due to the re- gion’s diversity. Ranging from high altitude (1,000m ASL), cool climate vineyards along the spine of the Great Dividing Range, to the lower and warmer sites on the western edges of the New England Tablelands; the region offers up dramatic and unique conditions for viticulture. The New England wine producing area, although widely thought of as a new wine producing region is actually a re-emerging wine region with an interesting history that dates back as far as the first settlers. Squatters and settlers planted vineyards and made their own wine due to the difficulty in transporting alcohol from other major centres. As the New England area continues to prove itself as an ‘undiscovered gem,’ Jared begins a new chapter of History in Clunes, NSW with an experi- mental patch; the first of it’s kind in Northern NSW.

A direct reflection of the environment, Jared and his team understand and appreciate that which provides for them. With a deep knowledge of viticulture and agricultural practices, the Winery was created to be completely off-grid, utlising the sun’s energy as power, and composting all waste on the property, to in turn be used as fertiliser for the vineyard. With regards to winemaking the team believe in a philosophy that wine should be representative of time and place – a moment bottled – and so they produce minimal intervention, natural wines, utilising natural yeasts with no fining, and zero additives aside from a small amount of sulphur before going to bottle.

‘Moments bottled become memories poured.’