Inside Jolif Wines, a brand-new project from former Stella Bella winemaker Luke Jolliffe

With a single focus on chardonnay, one of Western Australia’s most enduring talents is stepping up with his own label. Luke Jolliffe has spent much of his career at Margaret River’s Stella Bella, notably taking out Halliday’s 2023 Chardonnay of the Year for the 2020 Luminosa Chardonnay. With the launch of Jolif Wines – not a misspelling of the winemaker’s surname, but Old French for ‘joyful’ and ‘beautiful’ – Luke wants to focus on the act of “do one thing and do it really well.”

Originally a viticulturist, Luke took a vintage job at Stella Bella after completing his postgraduate winemaking degree and, over 18 years, climbed from vintage assistant winemaker to assistant winemaker, winemaker, senior winemaker and finally chief winemaker. His motivation for striking out on his own isn’t just a case of no more titles to add to the list.

“To be honest, with kids, I wanted to spend a summer with them and look on to new and brighter things,” he says. “They've got a really strong team at Stella Bella, so Jarrad [Olsen], who I've worked with for a long time, is taking the reins. He's very talented and has a lot of ability. It’s the right time to focus on my own thing.”

Luke Jolliffe.

And that ‘thing’ for now is chardonnay. He’s not ruling out other varieties but it’s the foundation for Jolif Wines, and perhaps for his career to date.

“Australian chardonnay is in a really incredible place at the moment,” he says. “We're making wines that have so much personality and character – they’re delicious and moving in the market.” Like so many other winemakers (local or not) Luke has an obvious reverence for the region he’s built his career in, and the Gingin clone of chardonnay, which he attributes to creating such a distinct identity for both the region and the variety. 

“It’s a no-brainer” he says, to use all of his knowledge and experience garnered throughout his Stella Bella era, but it’s not a case of cut and paste. “I don't want the wines to be just a continuation of what I did there, the idea being that it’s a development in the way I make wine and doing something different for myself – basing it around a clear intention of using wild yeast and natural fermentation, building purity, some savoury elements, texture and intensity into the wine. Whereas the Stella Bella wines that we made over the journey were more flinty, mineral and tight – more on that citrus-pithy kind of edge.”

There’s a clearly personal edge to what Luke is doing. “Your palate evolves with time in terms of what you like to drink and what you'd like to make,” he says. 

Vineyards in the south of Margaret River yield fruit with higher levels of natural acidity, says Luke.

Working with a local grower, fruit is hand-picked, whole bunch pressed and wild fermented. It’s 100 per cent in 300-litre hogsheads, and Luke says he’s using varying techniques to layer the wine. Using the McHenry Hohnen winery south of Margaret River, there is a definite bias to the south of the region.

While decades of both great wine and good marketing have embedded Wilyabrup in the consciousness, the south of the region offers chardonnay its own distinct character. You feel the effect of the Leeuwin Naturaliste ridge, says Luke, its elevation dampening the warmer influence of the Indian Ocean, vineyards taking cold winds straight off the Southern Ocean. 

“For me, close to Augusta, Kudardup, Karridale, you just get that slightly higher level of natural acidity,” says Luke. “Wines have this lovely acid line that you can feel on the palate as it drags all the flavour and phenolics through. With Wilyabrup there’s a bit more richness, savouriness… ‘obvious’ isn't the right word, but perhaps ‘power’? Down south, the power's there, but it's a little less obvious.”

Jolif Wines will focus solely on chardonnay.

Beyond his initial “leap of faith,” Luke doesn’t have an extensive masterplan, more a thought to trust the process. “You get to a point in your career where you need to invest in yourself,” he says. “Stepping back from the pressures of management and having that love for being hands-on with the wine – taking that full circle moment and realizing: God, I really enjoy racking my wine, blending it, I love looking after it because that's where it all started for me, learning all those skills and developing my palate.”

Jolif Wines' 2025 vintage, its first, will be released towards the middle of 2026 ($120 RRP), a decision Luke says is based solely on taste. Under cork, it’s another nod to the label’s name, the joy of wine, of pulling a cork with friends, and of the variety itself, he says. “I mean that’s it, ultimately. Chardonnay brings me a lot of joy.”

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