Jauma
Fun Wine or Fine Wine?
Leaving behind his career as one of the country’s most decorated somms, James Erskine then forged his own path crafting pithy, natural-leaning McLaren Vale grenache in 2010.
Producing under his label, Jauma (Yow-ma), Erskine has set the benchmark for natural wines done well, and his team now sits high up in their green oasis in Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills, led by Fiona Wood, an expert in natural viticulture, who helps drive their commitment to producing all-organic wines. The meaning behind the name? Well, when James Erskine was travelling through Spain, he met a winemaker called Jauma (Catalan for James), who was making wine with grenache, or rather garnacha. Unlike the beastly boozers from his home in Adelaide, these wines were light, lithe, and had a delicacy about them that James had not seen before.
Natural Vanguardist
It’s difficult to pigeon-hole James’ winemaking style but he always manages to blur the line between ‘fun wine’ and ‘fine wine’ with wines full of character, fruit expression and texture, yet with plenty of elegance, detail and structure. These are the sulphur-free wines everyone is trying to make these days but so often coming up short - stable, well-made and age-worthy, but still with plenty of character and pizzazz. Erskine’s philosophy is very much down a natural line, with manipulation and additions shunned, except the occasional dusting of sulphur. Having met a like-minded grower in Fiona Wood in 2011, Erskine contracted her to look after the sites he leases, managing the McLaren Vale vineyards with strict organic practices (though not certified).