Josef Chromy Winery
Josef Chromy Wines has a state-of-the-art winery at the base of the vineyard at Relbia, just 10 minutes South of Launceston. The modern and minimalist exterior provides a home for some of the best winemaking equipment available. Fruit reception begins with a vibrating hopper that gently shakes the grapes into the destemmer, which has a smooth plastic cage to prevent damage to the delicate berries. The grapes are pumped gently into the press through a peristaltic pump, using the same technology that transfers live fish or pumps blood during heart bypass surgery.
A high tech German press enables juice extraction at low pressures, giving more delicate aromatic juices. All Pinot Noir is fermented in small batch open top fermenters and a pneumatic plunging device, co-developed by Josef, is used to gently plunge the cap and manage the extraction of colour and tannin during the fermentation. All the equipment and processes in the winery are designed to respect the delicate varietal flavours of the high quality, cool-climate Tasmanian fruit.