Josef Chromy Wines
“Okay, let’s head to the lab,” says
Josef Chromy marketing manager
and occasional winery guide Dave
Milne, signalling the point at which we
become winemakers for a moment.
Possibly the only thing more satisfying
than popping the cork and pouring
a glass of sparkling wine is making
the bubbles in the bottle. During
the winery’s new Art of Sparkling
interactive experience, guests
follow the process of sparkling-wine
production step by step, from base
wine to disgorging and dosage,
corking and wiring.
The cellar door of the 61-hectare
property, about 15 minutes’ drive south
of Launceston, is set in gardens beside
a trout-filled lake. On a tour of the
winery, Milne sketches the history
of the vineyard and the action-packed
life of its owner, Josef Chromy, from
penniless Czech émigré teenager, to
butcher, to winemaker. (Milne’s passion
for sparkling wine runs deep – he’s
also the founder and organiser of
the annual Eervescence festival, a
series of sparkling-wine masterclasses,
dinners and wine experiences staged
across the island each November).
We’re joined in the lab by assistant
winemaker Scott Clarkson, who helps
us through a tasting trial to determine
our preferred dosage, the volume of
liqueur d’expedition (a mix of sugar
and wine) that’s added to the wine after
disgorging. My preference is extra brut,
or bone dry, at six grams/litre, and I
hand instructions and a signed label
to Clarkson to place on my bespoke
bottle. The exercise ends over lunch in
the restaurant, a striking glass and steel
building with soothing views of vines
and hills. Head chef Nick Raitt keeps
flavours seasonal and wine-friendly,
the likes of boarfish tartare with pickled
eggplant, local chèvre and quinoa with
a Chromy 2015 vintage sparkling, and
sirloin grilled over applewood, with
white anchovy butter and fennel cream
with a 2017 pinot noir. 370 Relbia Rd,
Relbia, josefchromy.com.au The gardens and lake
at Josef Chromy Wines. PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW WILSON.