WHEN Jake Winter made the decision to press pause on a promising professional cricket career in the late 2010s, few people, including himself, could have predicted where the next half-decade would take him. 

At 26 years old and working in the Barossa, he is now one of the youngest local winemakers in the game, and the former South Australian Cricket Association contracted player has had quite the journey.

He is the first to admit that his new venture, Winter Wines, would never have been possible if not for the generosity of a renowned Barossa winemaker. 

“I’ve always enjoyed drinking wine, funnily enough,” he said. 

“I always wanted to own my own winery one day, but it was just a bit of a dream and the winemaking side of things only came to pass post-cricket. 

“I changed degrees from commerce over to viticulture and oenology back in 2020, the Covid year, and did some paid placement out at Kies Family Wines. 

“After that I started working at the uni at the vineyard they have on campus for the 2021 vintage and then at the end of that, I was out of a contract. 

“I had to find a job and luckily Kies messaged me, asking if I wanted to come out and work for them. 

“That’s where the dream really kicked on.”

The past two years have been a whirlwind for Winter who, under the tutelage of head winemaker Bronson Kies, has been able to learn his craft hands-on. 

Winter is now just one year away from finishing his degree, and the release of the first Winter Wines product, the Dragonfly shiraz, marks an important point in his career.

The idea of Dragonfly, and Winter Wines itself, only came about after a discussion between Bronson and Winter during a stroll through the Kies vineyard.

“It was pretty random,” Winter said. 

“Last march I was having a walk around with Bronson, and we were discussing how the end of the rows don’t get picked by the harvester. 

“We were saying across the vineyard you could probably get a barrel’s worth of grapes, and I posed to him whether I’d be able to go out and handpick those grapes and try to make a barrel of wine. 

“So, I went out on a Saturday, got the picking crew together and spent the morning trying to get as many grapes as possible. 

We ended up making a barrel’s worth of shiraz, a bit of cabernet and a bit of merlot all in one. 

“I tried to make as nice a wine as possible out of that and then this year he asked if I wanted to do it again, and said they could get me some grapes. 

“I paid Kies for the grapes and then I processed them myself through the equipment outside of work hours. 

“So, that’s the arrangement. 

“Kies still takes priority and then I fix my wine up outside of those hours, and they’ve been good at backing me in doing whatever I please and how I go about it.”

Having such a collaborative experience, particularly between two winemakers fresh onto the scene, is a rarity in such a competitive market. 

But, Kies is keen to support Winter in his journey as a winemaker, and the former Australian junior cricketer is equally as keen to repay the favour. 

“It’s pretty crazy to think someone I didn’t know three years ago is allowing me to run a business out of their own winery,” Winter said. 

He always backs me and helps me out if I have a problem, and he’s helped me to make as good a wine as I possibly can, and just taught me the best way to do things. 

“If you go to a big corporation or a big company, they’re not going to allow you to do that. 

“Bronson himself, but the whole Kies family as well, has been nothing but supportive and they encourage me to keep going, which is really cool.”

The resulting product has been a “great success” according to Winter, who is surprised at how well the Dragonfly is drinking in the early stages. 

“I never wanted to make it that big because the market dictates a bit of a lighter wine at the moment,” he said. 

“You’ll always get people that will drink the Barossa shiraz and love a heavier wine, but I feel like with the clientele I’m selling to, they want a lighter-style wine. 

“It means I’ve left it in oak for a little bit less time and let the fruit do the talking a bit more, and it’s come out really nice. 

“It’s only been a month since it’s been bottled but it’s drinking really well at the moment, and I can see that getting even better in a couple of years, which I didn’t think was going to be the case.”

True to the family name, Winter has a number of close friends and family helping him out, with former schoolmates Tate Robins, Peter Ahern and Jed Ballard all involved behind the scenes, alongside Jake’s brother Adam. 

The family ties continue, with the inspiration behind Dragonfly a beloved member of the Winter clan, who passed away just a few years ago. 

“The dragonfly name is in recognition of my pop, who passed away in 2018,” Winter said. 

“He was the biggest supporter for all us grandkids. He loved us all and we always had so much fun being around him, and it shook the family pretty hard when he passed away. 

“It was around the time when I had a bit of a change in my own career and the path I was going on, from playing cricket to winemaking, and I thought it would be a fitting tribute to dedicate that first wine to him. 

He probably would’ve preferred a beer or a nice stout but I thought, given what I can do, it’s a fitting way to do it. 

“The dragonfly represents him looking over me and every time I see a dragonfly, I sort of think that’s Pop, just checking in and making sure I’m in the right order and doing the right thing.”

Wine number one is in the book and Winter is determined to keep the momentum going, with a number of things in the works in the coming months. 

Still at the heart of the operation is Bronson Kies and the rest of Kies Family Wines, which Winter remains grateful for. 

“We’re moving pretty quickly and potentially releasing another wine later this year, which might be a shiraz with a bit of cabernet in it as well,” Winter said. 

“We’ll look at doing a white wine as well and then probably a shiraz and a cabernet too, all backed by Kies. 

“They proposed the idea that I should do a cabernet as well, and I was pretty happy to oblige with that. 

“It means I’ll have to step it up a bit more, but it should be really good learning and working with Bronson to get that done, so it’s really exciting.”