Sep

In Conversation With Even Keel Part III

Jacob Gaffney in In Conversation Even Keel Wines

‘InterWined In Conversation’

Welcome back. This week the third instalment of InterWined’s four-part conversation with Australian winemaker Jeff Aston of Even Keel Wines in New South Wales; and InterWined is grilling Jeff with some seriously tough questions.

InterWined: Tell us Jeff, do you find it helps that you are younger and more attractive than your typical Aussie winemaker?

Jeff Aston: Younger yes; it gives me access to a different market, but it comes with a continual pressure of having to prove myself. The other great thing is that many of the original winemakers that created the Australian wine industry see my passion and drive, and I think it reminds them of themselves, so they are all really supportive and actually great fun. There are some real wild old characters in the Australian wine industry.

As for being attractive, I think after a few wines most people are…..

IW: Ha! Good stuff.

JA: Actually, my business partner, the other wine maker, Sam always says, “Jeff, you being single is great for business”. Personally, I think it gets me into more trouble than it does help. But, hey, I’m only human and I love girls — they are the best.

IW: Yes they are; and now that you’ve warmed a bit, something on the seriously serious tip. One of your plantings is Riesling. Many wine drinkers in the UK and US might not know that Riesling is popular ‘Down Under’ and one of our readers remarked that Aussies keep the good wines to themselves. What are your general thoughts on this fickle German varietal and the notion of this greediness, for lack of a better word.

JA: Of course we want to share our best wines with other people. Where is the fun of drinking alone. I subscribe to the philosophy “The More The Merrier.”

Riesling has to be one of my favourite aged wines, but I find that me — and most people I meet — have a love-hate relationship with this wine. That’s because its tight acid structure is often lean, clean and un-relaxing and…but also because they are so ‘schizo’. Out of all or the wines I watch age, Riesling is the most likely to taste great one month and terrible the next. It’s often said that a one year aged Riesling goes through a hole then comes out of it for about four years before hiding away again.

Well, I would totally agree with this for most of the Australian Rieslings that I have drunk.

IW: Thanks for clearing that up for us.

Be sure to join InterWined next week for the fourth and — sadly — final instalment of ‘InterWined In Conversation’ with Jeff Aston, winemaker at Even Keel, where news breaks that Even Keel is coming to the UK!

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