“It’s great fun making and sharing wine with family, friends and strangers,” says Mann. “I like experimenting as well, nothing too crazy, but still testing the boundaries to see what happens. As for making wine without additions, this is how I have been taught, and how I think wine should be made… Less large-scale industrial products, more small communities with lots of growers, makers, creators and producers feeding these communities.”
Growing up, Mann’s main passion was music. He trained with a few instruments and was encouraged by his parents to pursue music throughout his schooling. “I was lucky enough to attend a secondary school that had a strong music program. This is where I found my passion for recording music. I went on to pursue this as a career, working in recording studios in Melbourne, mixing live bands etc.”
“Loosen your grip – you can’t control everything, and that’s where the beauty is.”
While that career was a fulfilling one, the commute between his home in Ballarat and Melbourne started to take its toll. “I became tired of that and started floating the idea of looking for other work in another industry,” Mann says.
Wine was not remotely on the horizon then, but a chance meeting with Owen Latta (Eastern Peake and Latta Vino) in 2019 through a mutual friend saw him change course immediately. “He showed me some Eastern Peake pinot noir, and I was blown away. I remember thinking, ‘So, this is what wine really tastes like.’ No more rummaging through Dan Murphy’s sub-$10 bins for me!”
Striking up a friendship, Mann went on to work that year’s harvest with Latta at his family’s Coghill’s Creek winery. “Chris Dilworth was working there also,” Mann says. “I stayed for the pruning and then the spring and summer. By the time the 2020 vintage rolled around, I was hooked. I asked Owen if I could make some wine there. He said yes, so Charles Oliver Wines was created with a tonne of certified organic grenache from Shays Flat.”
“I mostly make wine from organic fruit with no additions or adjustments, bar a little sulphur. Entirely wild primary and malolactic fermentations, with no fining or filtering.”
“I am very lucky to be making wine in Coghills Creek, very close to the Macedon Ranges. It is a great community and very supportive. There are a lot of like-minded, amazing growers and makers.”
From epiphany to making wine for his own label, Mann’s turnaround was remarkably quick, but there’s a continuity from his previous career that he says resonates. “Making wine is not too dissimilar to recording music. It is about capturing and preserving a special moment in time. It’s about gently guiding and encouraging the vines/grapes/must/wine or musicians to get the greatest performance and documenting that.”
Mann takes that analogy further, citing texture as a common thread. “There are so many stages in the recording process where you can add texture to a sound: the live room, microphone choice, preamplifiers, equalisers, compressors, magnetic tape, the list goes on. This is the same with wine for fruit ripeness, the type of press you use, skin contact, maceration, lees, oak, clay, élevage, etc. You are trying to make your best effort to enhance what you are capturing.”
Today, Mann is still working at Eastern Peake and making his wine there. “I am very lucky to be making wine in Coghills Creek, very close to the Macedon Ranges,” he says. “It is a great community and very supportive. There are a lot of like-minded, amazing growers and makers.”
That similar philosophical angle sees Mann working in a lo-fi way. “I mostly make wine from organic fruit with no additions or adjustments, bar a little sulphur,” he says. “Entirely wild primary and malolactic fermentations, with no fining or filtering.” Not forcing things is also key, which is a golden rule he lives by. “Loosen your grip – you can’t control everything, and that’s where the beauty is.”
The maxim that great wine is made in the vineyard is one that Mann also stands by. “Unfortunately, I am not farming my own fruit, but try to buy the best farmed fruit I can source in the area. I do help farm the vines at Eastern Peake Vineyard, which we farm organically. …There is definitely less stress being a negociant style business. I see the stresses in the farming side, and Mother Nature has much more control on the outcome.”
Mann’s works largely with organic fruit from the Shays Flat and Landsborough vineyards in the Pyrenees, selecting varieties that he believes perform best there, including grenache, touriga nacional, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and sauvignon blanc. That range will ebb and flow, but the theme so far is earlier picked reds with shorter time on skins and both textural and skinsy lower alcohol whites.
“I try to make wine that I would enjoy drinking,” says Mann. “Whether that is a terroir driven red, darker style rosé or textural white, they all have to be interesting and engaging. From the choice in variety, to the farming, to the winemaking, and even the packaging. Also, I try to have some fun along the way.”
One thing is for sure, the Charles Oliver production won’t be expanding significantly anytime soon. “I don’t think I want to expand anymore. Keeping it small suits me well. I am still trying to find a good balance between my label, working at Eastern Peake and being a great husband and dad.”
Please sign in or create account as candidate to bookmark this job
Please sign in or create account to save this search
Please sign in or create account as candidate to create a resume
