Celebrate the release of indie winemaker Jordan Hein's 2020 Moorak wines in McLaren Vale this weekend, with music and food provided by trusted Adelaide party providers.

The coronavirus pandemic and bushfires threw some challenges at winemaker Jordan Hein – who also co-runs inner-suburban cellar door Ferg’s in Stepney – and now, after months spent getting back on his feet, he’s hitting back at 2020 with a triad of new Moorak drops to try.

And he’s celebrating the recovery in style.

“It’s just kind of a big casual gathering, but just with all the little best parts,” Jordan tells CityMag.

The Moorak release luncheon kicks off this Sunday and runs from 1pm ‘til 5pm. It’ll be held in the picturesque McLaren Vale, where Jordan also makes Moorak’s wine.

As well as new and old Moorak wines, there will be music and food available at the event.

Local deejays Phildo and Lenin will be behind the decks, and chef Joel Tisato from Africola and Share will cook up a summer feast.

“There will just be one long table, and I’ll be running around to everyone, splashing them wine, but then I’ll also be able to give a few little tastings throughout the day,” Jordan says.

“We’ll be in the middle of the trees, next to the dam, just out front of the wineries and be surrounded in the vineyards, so it is a beautiful setting and we’ll just be able to have a big festival sound system belting out awesome music. It’ll be cool.”

“They’re all fresh bright, aromatic, summer wines,” Jordan says.

Punters can try Moorak’s three new vinos, all of which Jordan describes as fresh, bright and perfect to chill in the icebox at a barbecue. The release consists of a skin-contact chardonnay, skin-contact riesling and pinot noir.

The skin-contact chardonnay was made with fruit from Kongorong, near Mount Gambier, and has pineapple and honey notes. The skin-contact riesling was made from Kuitpo grapes and is “pretty intense in aromatics”. This is also Jordan’s favourite wine.

“I think it’s probably one of the best ones that I’ve made so far,” he says.

“And the main direction for this release was to be able to create three completely different wines, all from the exact same grapes – so something that demonstrates the kind of influence that a winemaker can have on a wine and different directions we can take with it.”

The final of the three is a pinot noir made from grapes from the Yacca Paddock boutique vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. This fruit has been blended and fermented to create a more complex flavour and mouthfeel, Jordan says.

As part of the luncheon, stand-out drops from previous Moorak vintages will also be brought out, so people can compare new and old. Questions are encouraged.

“People are really open-minded to wines and want to learn and ask more questions, and they’re intrigued by these alternative wines that are in our backyard,” Jordan says.

When we ask the winemaker how he’s planning to find a table long enough to seat 60 people, he laughs and says he’ll connect many trestle tables. He’s also up for the challenge and says if the day goes well, he’ll host more events in the same vein.

As part of his partnership with Joel from Africola, Jordan will donate all proceeds from the day towards the Kaurna Warra Karrapanthi Language Committee, which supports Kaurna language reclamation.

Despite the bushfire season earlier this year, which wiped out his suppliers’ grapes, Jordan picked himself up by the bootstraps and called around, asking for anything. He eventually found “bits and bobs” from enough vineyards and got to work.

Ferg’s also took a hit from the coronavirus pandemic and was forced to close. But the Adelaide public’s appetite for good wine never dissipated.

“I’m feeling quite, quite good,” Jordan says. “I just took that time to kind of reassess and getting new goals together that I want to be able to achieve in the future.”