Invercarron: Unique new wine, 200 years in the making

When the pandemic hit Australia in March 2020, Andrew and Karen Jones were just finding their groove in the wine industry. Nearly ten years prior, the pair had purchased a large plot of land in the Jordan Valley from Andrew’s parents, Phil and Susan, who themselves had owned it for half a century – and the generation before them, and the generation before them, had farmed the Jordan Valley all the way back to 1818. 

With over 200 years of family history tied to the valley, Andrew sought to transform its traditional sheep farming operation into something special. No-one had imagined much future for the farming operations in that little valley, 35 kilometres north of Hobart. In fact, Andrew himself had moved to the city as a young man and worked 30 years in the travel industry as the owner of a high-profile travel agency in Hobart. 

But when Phil and Susan announced their intention to retire, Andrew and Karen made the move back to the plot from Hobart and started work on their plan to convert the farm into multiple, small-scale enterprises that would not only safeguard the family’s future in the valley, but would also be a source of joy for generations to come.

Andrew, Karen and the extended Jones family, planted vines at Invercarron in 2017, on Springfield Hill, which is a rocky and windswept elevation close to the main Invercarron site. It’s the only vineyard in the relatively unknown Jordan Valley, making their wines completely new and unique. The site is close to the popular Derwent and Coal River Valley wine regions, yet has its own diverse soil types and sub-climate, with all-day sun and strong northerly and north-westerly winds making for extremely late ripening of the grapes. 

Owing to the uniqueness of the vineyard, the couple’s philosophy is to keep things simple, to let the terroir speak for itself. The wines produced by Invercarron are single-site, with a hands-off, minimal intervention approach during processing – which happens over at the Ghost Rock facilities in northern Tasmania. 

The result is four premium, estate-grown wines: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Rosé. While each are distinct in the tasting experience, all are elegant, pure and carry the vibrancy that Tasmanian cool-climate wines are known for. The Invercarron wines have immediately impressed, with the inaugural Pinot Noir winning gold at the Royal Hobart Wine Show in 2020. That same year, Invercarron was named among 50 finalists in the inaugural Young Gun of Wine Vineyard of the Year Awards. 

Of course, during this time, COVID hit Australia and the world, and Andrew saw the travel industry he worked in for 30 years dwindle. With Invercarron already home to the vineyard, a fine-quality Merino wool operation, premium lamb farming, and cereal and vegetable crops, Andrew and Karen hatched a new plan, something that could support the local travel industry as well as reintroduce their old passions into the story of Invercarron. 

They added a luxury accommodation cabin within the vineyard – the Picker’s Hut – which sits alongside the original homestead that dates back to the 1850s. The hut offers visitors the opportunity to sleep among the stunning valley setting and sample the estate’s exceptional wine and lamb produce from renowned local chef, Sean Dunn.

“We do not have a cellar door and very few people have been to the Jordan Valley, despite it being only 35 minutes from Hobart CBD,” says Andrew, “so we want our guests to discover something new and exciting that no-one has tasted or heard before; we want them to feel the history.”

For Andrew, the site is not about scaling exponentially or earning huge profits. It is about family, it’s about the land, it’s about creating truly unique experiences and produce that people enjoy.

“We do not want to be ‘big’,” says Andrew, “I’ve been there, done that. It’s about people genuinely enjoying our wine and my family having some fun along the way.”

Andrew and Karen’s belief in the land, and their desire to make a success of their term as its custodians, has led to the first wines ever produced from the Jordan Valley. Even after 200 years, there is something truly new and special growing at Invercarron.

Want to try? Discover the Invercarron Pinot Noir in our Select Six this month. While stocks last.