The Adelaide Hills it seems is a great incubator for young couples creating their own wine journeys. A region that was once defined by classicism, until a new wave of avante garde and contemporary wine producers, innovated and transformed the Australian vinous landscape. The region is too broad to paint with one brush, so diverse are its profiles, contours, expositions and most importantly, people. With such a diverse playground, the Adelaide Hills has proven to be remarkably adept at a plethora of wine styles and a growing number of varietals. Exciting doesn’t seem to cover it.
Jemma and Steve Fielke are the brains and the passion behind J & S Fielke and the spare name is indicative of their vinous ethos; wines begin and end in the vineyard, and winemaking is to be as simple and hands-off as possible. Despite their label’s apparent newness, there is a mature pragmatism to their approach. Sustainability and simplicity not only for their own sakes, but as a method to producing the finest wines possible. I have learned over the years, that a producer’s ‘expression’ has many facets, site being only one, and what matters most, when all’s said and done is the magic in the glass.
As the region evolves, and youth subsides into middle age, there is an evolution towards traditional styles, with natural and sustainable wine principles. I remember buying and trying my first bottles of Gentle Folk’s wines, one of the pioneers of the regions contemporary wine movement, determined to dislike them. I was expecting funk and texture, wines of statements and style for misguided idealogues. Instead we tasted unforced wines, with pure fruit, long lithe bodies and soft gripping textures. Beautiful, classic and affordable expressions. The whole package as it were, left an impression of artisan and human sensibility, which is why I believe they are amongst Australia’s finest wine producers.
J & S Fielke are new to the scene, but with my first taste, the effect was instant. Like tasting Place of Changing Winds for the first time, or Sadie Family Wines or Gentle Folk, I knew we were onto something special. We taste lots of good wines, but not everyday does a producer get the heart racing like J & S Fielke did.
The wines are striking in their openness and ease of drinking. Both chardonnay and pinot noir are so fluid, possessing terrific brightness, intensity and lucid structures, that delightfully unravel. Rich in fruit, texture, mineral and savoury, all the elements tensioned. In some sense they are evolutionary wines; classical, yet with the elements of the new. If I had to define the Adelaide Hills by a producer or a style, I would normally point to the wines of well known and established producers, but its the new kids on the block, like J&S Fielke who are the big dogs now.
A remarkable chardonnay, 40 year old vines, aged in 30% new French oak, with no additions, save for a small dose of sulphur. It’s everything you’d expect chardonnay to be; rich, full bodied and round. And then it’s so much more. Classic and exotic, all at the same tine with quince, kiwifruit, white peach and rock melon. Tangy, salty with cutting lemon and lime zest, sizzling the oak, grilled nuts and cream. Pulpy, textures and savoury, the finish, mouth watering and mineral. unique chardonnay, no doubt about it, yet a wine for everyone. It’s very bright and powerful, and its structure isn’t obvious, but the tension and balance make for a extraordinary wine. Waters Wine Co
One of my favourite red wines of 2023, at a price point that is swamped by good but unexciting examples of pinot. Well, this is amazing. Ripe stewed red fruits of rhubarb, strawberry, cherry and cranberry, with a sweet and savoury spice element. Floral too, with lavender, violet and geranium. Open and beautifully proportioned, with effortless weight, flow and glide. Almost mesmerising in its perfect balance of slippery texture, pure oozing fruit and mineral talc tannins. The focus and length are memorable, and confusing in its way: it’s incredible drinking now, but I think this will be extremely long lived in the cellar. Definitely a nod to the textured, intense, lithe, sleek and mouth-watering wines around Beaune. What a bargain! Waters Wine Co
