Story
Clo crafts artisan wines from grapes grown in the high altitude vineyards of NSW.
The clo story began in our family wine store in 2001 and came to fruition with the first harvest in 2013. It's been an adventure, moving through various regions around the globe to arrive in the vineyards of New South Wales.
Knowledge and experience goes a long way in this world. I've studied the science of wine through university and studied the art of wine through experience. University filled me with knowledge of the complex processes taking place in the wine world. Whereas experience developed the olfactory and gustatory senses, while becoming more tactile in the vineyard and winery.
I’m now a vigneron growing grapes and making wine from Tumbarumba and Orange. These high altitude regions offer optimal growing conditions to craft quality wines reflective of the land in which they come from. The wines are an ode to the natural processes that take place in the vineyard and the cellar. Each clo is its own expression… visualised on the label and articulated through the wine.
Beyond the creativity and thought involved in crafting the wines and their labels, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears along the way. Working with nature can be unforgiving and sometimes cruel, but a lot of beauty can be found in the uninhibited bottle of wine.
The clo wines can be easy-going, while others may be complex and thought-provoking. Most importantly, each bottle should be exciting, interesting and delicious.
Viticulture
Grow good grapes.
Good farming is about growing nutrient-rich, healthy produce. Healthy soils, grow good grapes, and good grapes make good wine. It's only by working with nature that we can achieve this.
It is the responsibility of every farmer to look after their land. Each farmer adhering to their own system of beliefs, created from experience and adapted to ones own, unique situation. There is not judgement here, only the goal to better oneself and ones practices, and the farm.
In the case of clo, there is no use of herbicides or insecticides in the Sunnyside vineyard. Copper and sulfur (organic substances) are sprayed to protect the vines from mildew and vermicast (worm wee) is delivered onto the soil to improve its nutrition. Cover crops are sown for the winter months to build nutrition and life in the soil.
Winemaking
I’m a one-man band in the winery. I have the help of some friends who grow grapes, but when it comes to the winemaking it’s a solo gig.
Each clo wishes to capture the season, the place and the time. In the cellar the wines are given time to develop, manually and patiently allowing nature to run its course while fastidiously managing that which can be controlled.
All clo’s are produced naturally. Fermentation is wild, old oak barriques and foudre are used, elevages are lengthy, and the wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered and without sulfur under cork. I hope you see the wines to be pure, delicious and full of personality, while maintaining stability and typicity.
Only 7000 bottles produced annually.