Jock Harvey
Australia
Award-winning Australian winemaker, making luxury affordable
Jock Harvey is a winemaker funded by your fellow Angels in Australia. His Brewery Hill El Toro Castrado Shiraz Tempranillo Grenache 2019 is featured in a special charitable pre-order that supports relief and recovery efforts related to the Australian bushfires of 2019-20.
- Jock works for his family-owned winery, farming some of the oldest vines in Oz, first planted in 1897.
- From rich Shiraz blends to Australian Montepulciano, he's known for making wines that are rich in flavor and finesse. "Drank it naked on a bearskin rug!" was one Angel's tasting note. Need we say more?
- He's great at taking customer feedback, and with the support of Angels across Australia, he's turning it into the kind of wines people love to drink.
Vineyard Location
Jock Harvey's Story
Jock's Story
I grew up living on various farms that produced wine grapes. In my primary school days we lived on a farm next to a winery. I guess this planted the seed for my love of wine!
Later on, my Dad started farming grapes and selling them off to a Co-op Winery. This is when I decided to go study Viticulture. The degree I did at University combined viticulture and wine. After learning more about wine, doing practicals and making experimental wine, I was then well and truly hooked.
What do I love about the job? Well, I love to create things and then see people enjoy it. The satisfaction of this makes all the effort worth the while.
Winemaking gives me an all round experience, with something new everyday. Your time is divided between office work (which is crap!), cellar work (which is great) and farm/vineyards (which is also great).
If any of them get under my skin, I move to the next one, and so on until I get everything done (or not as the case is sometimes...!).
There are of course a few other things which aren't so great about the job... snobbish wine critics and personalites for example! But without a doubt, the positives outweigh the negatives!
My top winemaking philosophies?
- Make wine people want to drink, not spit
- Keep the varietal character of each wine by not adding too much wood
- Use every vintage to better the following one
- Use the best grapes possible
- Remember to enjoy it and not work/worry all day
