Charles Oliver Jus d'Amour Grenache 2024

Charlie Mann traded in the recording studio for winemaking after a chance meeting with Owen Latta. An epiphany with one of Latta’s wines saw him ditch his long commute to take up work at Eastern Peake Vineyard. The Charles Oliver label was born in Mann’s second vintage. The offering is compact, focused on organic vineyards and earlier picking. Reds and whites both clock in at lower alcohols, with texture and fragrance uncluttered by oak, and are bottled with no fining or filtration and only a small dose of sulphur. 

“It’s great fun making and sharing wine with family, friends and strangers,” says Mann. “I like experimenting as well, nothing too crazy, but still testing the boundaries to see what happens. As for making wine without additions, this is how I have been taught, and how I think wine should be made… Less large-scale industrial products, more small communities with lots of growers, makers, creators and producers feeding these communities.”

Growing up, Mann’s main passion was music. He trained with a few instruments and was encouraged by his parents to pursue music throughout his schooling. “I was lucky enough to attend a secondary school that had a strong music program. This is where I found my passion for recording music. I went on to pursue this as a career, working in recording studios in Melbourne, mixing live bands etc.”

While that career was a fulfilling one, the commute between his home in Ballarat and Melbourne started to take its toll. “I became tired of that and started floating the idea of looking for other work in another industry,” Mann says.

Wine was not remotely on the horizon then, but a chance meeting with Owen Latta (Eastern Peake and Latta Vino) in 2019 through a mutual friend saw him change course immediately. “He showed me some Eastern Peake pinot noir, and I was blown away. I remember thinking, ‘So, this is what wine really tastes like.’ 

Striking up a friendship, Mann went on to work that year’s harvest with Latta at his family’s Coghill’s Creek winery. “Chris Dilworth was working there also,” Mann says. “I stayed for the pruning and then the spring and summer. By the time the 2020 vintage rolled around, I was hooked. I asked Owen if I could make some wine there. He said yes, so Charles Oliver Wines was created with a tonne of certified organic Grenache from Shays Flat.”