Fin Wines is located on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water, and culture. We pay respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.
We pay our respect to the Traditional Owners of all the Aboriginal countries across Australia from where we source our fruit and ingredients.
Fin Wines, a fermentation collective, launched in January 2020 with a range of wines, ciders and piquettes. Fin Wines is producing young, fresh and most importantly fun drinks with an emphasis on drinkability. We are doing this a very lo-fi way in terms of minimal additions, no filtering, spontaneous fermentation, with minimal faffing in the winery.
Fin Wines consists of JonJo McEvoy, Oliver Johns, and Angus Hean. Fin was organically conceived, born of our love for tasty wines and ciders. We are situated in Dixons Creek, Yarra Valley, Wurundjeri Country. We are blessed to be custodians of 10 acres which we aim to farm in the most sustainable way possible, preserving soils for future generations and preserving biodiversity.
The vineyard was planted in the early 90's on its own rootstock, on grey-red sandy loam over clay. The vineyard is mostly on a south facing slope, with a small area at the southern end of the vineyard, on a gentle north facing slope. There are also cooling effects from nearby hills.
Up until we inherited the farm January 2021, the vineyard was farmed without the use of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides - practices we are continuing. The resulting soil is full of life, and is rich and dark in colour as a result of plenty of humus and organic matter. Compost teas, fish oil, seaweed extract and humate are applied to feed and nurture a healthy and diverse range of soil organisms and grass species, which in turn release nutrients into the soil to feed the vines, improve soil condition and fruit quality, cultivate natural and healthy grapes.
We are working on building biodiversity around the farm by replanting the gardens, the dam and around the vineyard with species of plants that are indigenous to the area, supporting native insect population which in turn will also prey on pests in the vineyard.
- Unidentified Grape Picker
We source the rest of our fruit from primarily two other vineyards and one orchard. Highbow Hill Vineyard, Box Grove Vineyard and Yering Farm
Highbow Hill Vineyard in Dixons Creek; it is the star of the show in the view from our cellar door. Follow your gaze down across our vineyard and you will be greeted by the mighty Highbow Hill, the remains of an ancient volcano. It is in Melbourne’s “green wedge” zone and is protected by local and state laws as an area of outstanding natural beauty with important environmental value.
It is farmed by Andrew Butler of Handpicked Wines, with an emphasis on sustainable and organic practices. The vineyard was planted in late 90's on sandy loam over clay & gravel over mudstone.
Box Grove Vineyard is farmed by the wonderful Sarah Gough, up in Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley, Taungurung Country. Sarah and her vineyard are a source of great inspiration to us. Sarah's approach to wine and farming is inquisitive, creative and always moving. Sarah's philosophy is to tread as lightly as possible in the vineyard. "It is my philosophy in both the vineyard and winery to tread as lightly as we can. In the vineyard we make our own compost to improve soil structure and work with the vines natural growth habits to create canopies for shade and air flow, to avoid the use of sprays and chemicals" - Sarah Gough
Sarah has also been planting natives to encourage indigenous and beneficial insects. Native wasps being great at keeping caterpillar numbers under control in the vineyard. Biodynamic preps and compost are being made on site, to be used on the vineyard. Sarah is also grafting varieties better suited to the climate in Tabilk. The vineyard was once mainly Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Roussane. Now there are dozens of varieties hailing from warmer regions of Spain, Italy and Portugal. From Box Grove we are blessed to work with Garnacha, Pinot Gris, Roussane, Vermentino, Nebbiolo, Arinto, Shiraz, Mataro and many more.
Yering Farm Orchard is farmed by the Johns Family (Oliver's Family). So yeah this orchard is pretty close to the heart. Five generations of orchardists. Located on the floodplains of the Yarra floor. 70 acres of table varieties such as Pink Lady, Sundowner, Fuji and Red delicious planted on rich clay loam soil. The orchard floor is maintained by sheep and trees get organic sprays. Apples and Pears are handpicked. The black spot that occurs on the fruit develops thicker skins on the fruit, giving the finished cider more tannin. We also allow the fruit to rest after being milled to develop texture and depth of flavour, as well as helping to kick off a wild ferment. After pressing the fruit we transport the juice up to our winery, in Dixons Creek, to finish fermentation.
We let the grapes do the talking.
Everything is wild fermented.
Just a small amount of SO2 is added pre bottling.
All the hard work happens in the vineyard. We source high quality fruit, using varieties that is suited to the climate they are growing in. This allows us to pick with a good balance of flavour and acidity. We tend to pick fruit lean with plenty of acid but without compromising flavour. This makes the wines more stable, age-worthy and most importantly delicious.
Everything we do in the winemaking is with a light touch and minimal processes. We work fruit very lightly, or not at all, as well as bottling young and fresh, to preserve vibrancy and aromatics. Our wines are not to be taken seriously but with joy and frivolity.
Our wines are best served with mates <3
Use this popup to embed a mailing list sign up form. Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page.
This website requires you to be 18 years of age or older. Please confirm you are 18 or older.
| Item | Price | Qty | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subtotal |
$0.00 |
|||
| Shipping | ||||
| Total | ||||