Josef Chromy Wines: Balance in the Cool South

Due to its cool climate, wine makers and connoisseurs consider Tasmania to be a hot tip. The key word ‘cool climate’ stands for highly elegant, complex Pinot Noirs and other wines. Anyone, like Josef Chromy, who comes from a country with a cool climate such as the Czech Republic, must be excited about the vision of building a vineyard here.

Josef Chromy’s life story is the stuff movies are made of: he fled from Czechoslovakia in 1950, immigrated to Australia, worked as a labourer in an asbestos factory,and with his qualifications as a master butcher learnt as a teenager in Prague, then worked in butcher shops. The penniless refugee opened his own business, which he gradually expanded into a meat giant (Blue Ribbon Meat Products). Sales in 1993topped $75 million with530 employees. In 1994, the investment and development group JAC was established. Joe entered the fledgling Tasmanian Wine Industry and went to own and developed some of Tasmania’s leading wineries, including Rochecombe (now “Bay of Fires”), Jansz, Heemskerk and Tamar Ridge Wines. The passionate entrepreneur then set his sights on building a vineyard and winery with the latest technology and all the bells and whistles in 2003. In what must be every oenologist dream, Joe approached Jeremy Dineen and asked if he would help design and build a winery. In December 2006 at the age when when many people would be slowing down, Joe (76) launched Josef Chromy Wines with Jeremy Dineen as Chief Winemaker.

Jeremy Dineen’s motto is: Anyone can make good wines in good years, but only a very good winemaker can make good wines in bad years. Tasmania bears quite a few challenges. The island is very small compared to Australia’s gigantic wine industry, but provides a comparably high percentage of Australian premium plants. The climate data is comparable to regions such as Oregon, Burgundy, and Champagne. Tasmania is considered Australia’s wine treasure chest, but a strict quality philosophy is necessary to meet the challenge.

“Always first strive for balance, equilibrium, and elegance,” says Josef Chromy. “The soil and the grape varieties possess all the prerequisites.” That it rained 130 awards for the wines in the first four years proves that Josef Chromy spared neither money nor effort to produce real quality. From the basic series “Pepik” (after the Czech nickname for Josef), which also features a sparkling wine, via the varietal wines of the “Josef Chromy” line to the small exclusive “Zdar” line (Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir), all wines demonstrate Tasmania’s clarity and elegance.