Ottelia

John and Melissa Innes moved to the iconic Coonawarra region 25 years ago intending to, in John’s words, “stay a little while”.

They bought a parcel of land ringed by tall Red Gum Eucalypts, and with natural wetlands dotted with Ottelia Ovalifolia, a na- tive waterlily. All these years later John and Melissa are still there.

Together they have spent nearly half a lifetime in the Limestone coast region, John, working as a winemaker and consultant across its unique wine growing regions knows the Limestone Coast well, its wine growing regions of Coonawarra, Wrattonbul- ly, Mount Benson and Mount Gambier, their different soils, their climates. This lasting connection to the region and infatuation for wine has produced Ottelia, drawn from the best vineyards of the Limestone Coast.

At the beginning of his winemaking career, John had the privilege to work as assistant winemaker to the late Carlo Corino. Carlo was a highly qualified and respected Italian winemaker whose influence in Italy and Australia will endure. As well as the exceptional overall learning experience he gained from Carlo, he passed on a fundamental winemaking philosophy that he has continued with, and built upon throughout his career.

Firstly, this philosophy is to allow what Carlo described as the ‘vinous quality’ of the wine to be retained and to show through in the finished product. Secondly, that the structure and flavour of these wines must be considered as an accompaniment to food and not as an individual component. In essence, use very good quality fruit and spend time in the vineyard, continually tasting the fruit for optimal flavour and textural ripeness. Get this right, and there should be no need to interfere with the natu- ral balance and structure of the wine by adding tannins or excessive oaking of the wine. The Ottelia approach is to focus upon the true and optimal fruit flavours, the vinous quality, and the natural empathy that these wines will have with food.

A comment that has been used quite often is “that great wines are created in the vineyard”, and is something that John abides by, believing that his philosophy cannot be put into practice without a fundamental presence in and an understanding of the vineyard. The winemaker’s role is to capture and manage the fruit quality from the vineyard through to the finished wine. The vineyards that John works with are all managed in a sustainable way to produce fruit that is of optimal quality and flavour. These vineyards minimise the use of sprays and concentrate on maintaining a healthy environment and vineyard. While not organic, they adhere to the fundamental principals of low input and sustainable viticulture.

A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. Quality wine is a natural product, where good winemaking practices preserve and encourage the pure and delightful flavours of the grape through to the finished wine. A winemaking approach John and Melissa are fully committed to.