Our Winemaker

Liam McElhinney

A passion for cool climate viticulture and varietals brought winemaker Liam McElhinney to Tasmania in 2019. Originally from Marlborough, New Zealand, Liam’s career has taken him to many great wine growing countries beyond New Zealand and Australia, including France, Canada and the USA. Over the past 15 years, his wines have attained both critical acclaim and commercial success, an exceedingly rare feat.

What can you tell us about the first releases of Ossa wines?

The inaugural Ossa releases reflect the Roberts family’s resolute focus on producing the absolute pinnacle of Tasmanian wines. The vintage sparkling draws on coastal themes of sea spray and oyster shell, supported by a luxurious complexity that only comes from 5+ years on lees. The Grüner Veltliner shows early signs of being immensely true to its varietal DNA when grown on suitable Tasmanian sites.

Chardonnay from Tasmania’s East Coast is highly regarded and it’s easy to see why when you experience the pithy precision and finely tuned acidity of OSSA’s Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir may well be the star of the show. It’s an absolutely seamless wine with stunning perfume, layers of exotic fruit and spice, and with a real depth of charm and pinosity.

How would you describe your winemaking style and ethos?

I’ve been very fortunate to work closely with the viticulture side of the business from very early on in my career. Growing the best possible fruit in any given season lays the foundation for the application of the appropriate winemaking approaches to deliver wines of consistent quality. Balancing the science of winemaking with the creative experience it affords me is something that has taken 20+ years to fine tune.

The piece of winemaking equipment you cherish the most?

The bottling line. When that thing is running I know I’ve done everything I possible can and it’s out of my hands – and tanks!

What excites you about the Tasmanian wine industry?

The new plantings coming on stream in the South and East are very exciting. There are some pretty special sites with amazing potential for the classics like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with some new varietals in the mix, which will be a lot of fun to develop over time. Some of the sparkling wines we are involved with are hugely exciting also.