“My dad had a catchphrase: ‘Do what you love, and love what you do.’ I love food and wine and sharing that love with others. …I first tried my hand at cooking. I went to culinary school and worked in kitchens around Melbourne before realising that it wasn’t for me. I loved the adrenaline rush of service, I loved the creativity, the science and the sensory aspect, so I tried my hand at winemaking, and I’ve never looked back. It encompasses all the best things in life, working outdoors with the land, travel, food, art, science and creativity!”
Jemmeson started her winemaking journey with a casual vintage position at De Bortoli’s Yarra Valley operation, impressing enough to be asked to stay on as the lab manager. A vintage at Ted Lemon’s Littorai in California followed, with others in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy and France’s Rhône Valley, plus travel to many more wine producing regions throughout the US and Europe. Jemmeson studied winemaking at Charles Sturt University.
“We have worked hard to cultivate quality, long standing relationships with growers who love and care for their land and know it intimately. We are passionate about working with like-minded people that share our values and desire to create something special to share with the world.
Pacha Mama Wines was founded by Jemmeson’s father as something of a retirement project in 2010. The name came about from a trip that father and daughter took to Peru. A guide on a visit to Machu Picchu told the pair about Pachamama, or Earth Mother (Mother Nature), whose kingdom is the earth and plants. They were also told of a libation, or tribute of wine being poured on the earth in thanks for its bounty.
“The intention was to create delicious wines that give fantastic bang for buck,” says Jemmeson. “Wines that are made from only high-quality grapes, use the best winemaking techniques and best oak barrels. Wines that are not pretentious and anyone can enjoy. Wines that reflect the variations in seasons and are made thoughtfully without too much manipulation. Above all, it started with a desire to create a business that allows us to do what we love every day and to work with inspirational, fun and passionate people.”
Jemmeson has worked full-time at Pacha Mama since 2014, leasing an 800-tonne winery in the Strathbogie ranges for three years where she made her own wines and looked after processing for six other winemakers. “I supported my colleague Nina Stocker to have kids and build her own brands and stay in the industry with flexible working conditions,” she says. “I’m now juggling winemaking and kids and making it work with the help of contract winemaking.”
That flexibility is crucial to Jemmeson. After she devoted her time to wine, she quickly became aware of the difficulties keeping women and, in particular, mothers in the industry. “I couldn’t see how I could raise a family working as a winemaker. The vintage expectations are enormous and aren’t particularly conducive to raising children. I started my own business so that I could set it up differently. To provide flexibility to working mums including myself, so that I could do both – raise my beautiful son and continue doing what I love: making wine.”
“Each year we run small experimental batches with new products and different winemaking techniques, which helps us learn more about our fruit and home in on the style of wines we are aiming to create. These experiments are not always successful – some miss spectacularly – but it’s in these failures that the greatest lessons are learnt.”
Jemmeson makes two ranges, Pacha Mama and Cloak and Dagger. Both are democratically affordable, but the later label is perhaps the more everyday brand, with effortless drinkability at the fore. Working across ten varieties, the wines across both ranges include varietal expressions of traditional grapes, with shiraz, pinot noir, pinot gris and riesling, while Italian grapes get an equal run, with sangiovese, nebbiolo, prosecco and fiano all employed. In 2022, Jemmeson also made a varietal touriga nacional; savagnin found its way into a rosé with shiraz and pinot gris; while pinot noir, sangiovese and shiraz make up a red blend.
Such a broad range of varieties sees Jemmeson sourcing widely, and not just to snare a particular variety. “I live in Melbourne, so I’m fortunate enough to have an abundance of premium winegrowing regions right on my doorstep. I have always been a strong believer in the power of the right grape grown in the right place.” That roster of vineyards currently consists of ten growers in the King and Alpine Valleys, North East Victoria, the Yarra Valley, Heathcote and Central Victoria.
That suitability of site is equally as important as working with growers that share a philosophy of farming sustainably. “It’s critical for us to work with growers that are passionate and love what they do,” Jemmeson says. “We have worked hard to cultivate quality, long standing relationships with growers who love and care for their land and know it intimately. We are passionate about working with like-minded people that share our values and desire to create something special to share with the world.”
“My dad had a catchphrase: ‘Do what you love, and love what you do.’ I love food and wine and sharing that love with others. …I first tried my hand at cooking. I went to culinary school and worked in kitchens around Melbourne before realising that it wasn’t for me. I loved the adrenaline rush of service, I loved the creativity, the science and the sensory aspect, so I tried my hand at winemaking, and I’ve never looked back.”
In the winery, Jemmeson has no absolute rules, blending hard won experience with experimentation. “We have a range of wines from the more serious products like our chardonnay that have come from years of experience and knowledge gained from working with top tier producers both at home and away, to the more fun and experimental wines that are good for the soul and to keep the creative juices flowing.”
Those experimental wines are made each year in a constant striving to improve quality and become better winemakers, Jemmeson says. “Each year we run small experimental batches with new products and different winemaking techniques, which helps us learn more about our fruit and home in on the style of wines we are aiming to create. These experiments are not always successful – some miss spectacularly – but it’s in these failures that the greatest lessons are learnt.”
That’s a deep current in Jemmeson’s approach, with an emphasis on practical, hands-on learning, pushing boundaries and then being honest about the results. “Winemaking has always been dynamic and adaptive to the changes each season,” she notes. “It’s important that we can change quickly and on the fly with whatever challenges are thrown our way each year. Last year, we made a pét-nat from sangiovese grapes struggling to ripen in a cool wet year. …For me, experimenting and pushing myself to try new things, bottle different styles of wine and then listen to the feedback is important to growth. Innovation, creativity and a drive to continually improve and learn pushes us forward.”
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