About Us | Barossa Cellar Door | Levrier Wines by Jo Irvine

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More Than A Winery

Our Winemaker

About Jo Irvine

As a second-generation winemaker, Jo Irvine had her winemaking career begin at a very early age.

At Levrier Wines by Jo Irvine, we believe perfection is about doing the little things brilliantly. Jo Irvine established Levrier Wines with her partner Peter in 2017 to capture the pure essence of some of the forgotten varietals of the Barossa. Cabernet Franc and Merlot are varietals celebrated for their successful old-world pedigree and have the potential to convey sensory elegance while proven to gratify a broad range of discerning palates alongside the wiser known Barossa varietals such as Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Today, Jo is recognised as one of the leading female Australian winemakers as she passionately and enthusiastically creates textural Cabernet Franc and stylistic Merlot alongside the highly recognised Barossa varieties. Grape varieties, such as Meslier and Zinfandel, have driven Jo throughout her career. Her sparkling Meslier Brut Rosé is one of the rarest sparkling wines worldwide, and her Zinfandel is well-known internationally.

Levrier Wines produces approximately 4,000 cases annually, utilising long-established relationships with key growers on single vineyard parcels of fruit. Jo connected to a key group of vignerons from Barossa Valley, Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills, working with each to ensure these lesser-known varietals are highly esteemed.

Jo takes great pride in connecting various contributing forces to create eloquence in her wines. Her wines are driven by the importance of texture, elegance, and expression of place at a moment in time. Jo works closely with site-specific vignerons she works with to provide hands-on viticulture, while her hand-crafted care and attention to detail of each barrel define the wines. Her commitment and enthusiasm are unrivalled, and her age-worthy wines are memorable to the last drop.

Jo continues to believe the love of winemaking must be reflected in every sip!

The Beginning

The Birth of Levrier Wines

After 30 years of winemaking consulting and making wines for her father’s business, Jo began to dream of having her own brand where she could produce wines that were fully hers from start to finish.

Initially, in a nursing career, Jo was uniquely guided to appreciate discipline with a more artistic perspective. In the early 90s, this Barossa native took a leap of faith by following her father's footsteps into winemaking, redirecting her career to studying winemaking. While learning her new craft, she worked six consecutive vintages in Barossa and California.

Jo attributes her winemaking knowledge to many years in the industry and growing up in the footsteps of her father, Jim Irvine. Jo quickly recognises the importance of professional relationships, having worked with and developed several other wine labels since embarking on her own wine consulting business from 2003 onwards. With this extensive knowledge, she boldly designed Levrier Wines to focus exclusively on place-driven wines. She curiously was attracted to the less appreciated varietals of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Meslier. Jo's vision was to grow her focused brand and simultaneously grow recognition of these barely recognised varietals, demonstrating their potential for excellence. 

“If we don’t keep producing these varieties, then we lose our ability to choose what we would like to drink and enjoy”. 

Our Name

Levrier Wines, The Name

We believe the best company names need to reflect the brand's spirit. For Jo, it was essentially that the name be memorable. It had to be personal, like her style of winemaking, without being too exotic, and it had to be approachable - like her wines!

With Barossa and the heritage of the land and region in play, she steered away from the geography of her birthplace and family-branded names to focus on the wines. She identified tradition with a contemporary twist - the marriage of the old and new worlds with respect for art and science. She wanted uncomplicated and graceful.

Jo has adopted greyhounds for over 20 years, starting with a chance encounter with her first hound, ‘Chilli’, who started a lifelong love of the breed. The brand combines winemaking and her advocacy for the noble greyhound.

Levrier, the French word for greyhound and pronounced as ‘Lev-re-air’, brought her two worlds together. Combining the honourable, majestic animals of our ancient mythology and the artistic images resulted in the creation of Levrier Wines by Jo Irvine.

Levrier Wines by Jo Irvine strives to emulate its namesake images by sharing the grace and elegance of history in her ‘Mosaic Collection’. A collection of labels that demonstrate the ancient history of greyhounds and their relationship with ancient historical figures, both real and in mythology.

The ‘Art Collection’ is a series of works by English artist Elle J Wilson, displaying her artistic impression of the elegant greyhound breed with a striking and fun approach. Accessible, memorable, and simply striking, the collections embrace the association of wine, science and the creative process of winemaking.

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