Joshua Cooper

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Joshua Cooper, the winner of Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine’s Young Winemaker of the Year 2020, is the son of established winemakers – but he’s his own man. Recently turned 32, Cooper has a suite of beautiful wines that are all his own doing. He is ploughing his own furrow.

Josh Cooper embodies many desirable attributes of a top winemaker: a sound education, a well-honed palate, and broad experience in diverse wine businesses in other regions and countries.
He was raised in Victoria’s chilly Macedon Ranges region, regarded as the coldest wine region on mainland Australia, where his parents Alan and Nelly Cooper run Cobaw Ridge winery.

Josh’s focus is on single-vineyard pinot noir and chardonnay and the wines are based on established vineyards in the Macedon Ranges and surrounding areas. For example, his three chardonnays are from the 38-year-old Cope-Williams vineyard at Romsey, the Captain’s Creek vineyard at Blampied near Ballarat, and the Portree vineyard at Lancefield. He makes pinot noir from Doug’s Vineyard at Romsey and Ray-Monde at South Gisborne.

He also has a Heathcote syrah, and there’s a Pyrenees cabernet sauvignon waiting in the wings from the 2020 vintage.

Josh is a hands-off winemaker, whose wines would probably qualify as ‘natural’. The only thing he adds is sulfur dioxide. The chardonnays spend a year in oak on lees without stirring or racking, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Their hallmark is fruit purity and they are delicate, racy and refreshing.

As the son of vignerons, was it automatic that he would follow in their footsteps?

“I always enjoyed the vineyard and the seasonal aspect of it,” says Josh.

“Vintage is an exciting time. I thought long and hard about what else I’d like to do, that I would prefer to do, and I decided there wasn’t anything.”

And the Macedon Ranges is an exciting region, which is in an especially interesting place right now, with a lot of younger people starting up new ventures as well as top-flight established winemakers such as Matt Harrop (ex-Shadowfax, now Curly Flat) and Doug Neal (ex-Paradise IV, now Hesket Estate) moving to the area. Chris Dilworth and Loique Allain of Dilworth & Allain won this year’s Young Gun of Wine award, and Ben Ranken has taken over the former Portree vineyard and renamed it Willimee.

Josh was 19 when he went off to Adelaide University and did the oenology course, graduating in 2011. He gained experience working for many other wineries.

There was Chalmers at Euston on the Murray River in 2007, 2008 and 2009; Sogrape in Portugal in 2007, M. Chapoutier Australia at Heathcote in the summers of 2009 and 2010; Hewitson in the Barossa Valley from 2008 to 2011; Yabby Lake’s Heathcote Estate in 2012; Tyrrell’s in the Hunter Valley in 2012, 2013 and 2014; Domaine de la Vougeraie and Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron in Burgundy, both in the 2012 vintage; Château de Beru in Chablis in 2013; and a full-time role at Hanging Rock Winery, Macedon, between 2012 and 2017.

He is grateful to the Ellis family at Hanging Rock for allowing him time off to travel. He started Joshua Cooper Wines in March 2012.

So Josh Cooper has been one busy lad. His labels are beautifully designed using lino-cut prints made by his friend Chris Dilworth’s artist wife Loique Allain.

Apart from his employment CV, he has either judged or associated at a number of wine shows in recent years and was a scholar in the Len Evans Tutorial in 2019. He was elevated to a full judge at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards in 2019 and 2020.

As for Cobaw Ridge, Josh has been on hand to help out most vintages and has recently taken on more involvement there. He anticipates that he will take over the family business when his parents retire, but this is not on the horizon at present. And he makes his own wines at Cobaw Ridge.

His other interests include playing guitar and Aussie rules football, but breaking too many fingers doing the latter meant he no longer does much of the former!

Josh Cooper embodies many desirable attributes of a top winemaker: a sound education, a well-honed palate, and broad experience in diverse wine businesses in other regions and countries. His family background in wine is a bonus.

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Group wines by:

• Wine Name
• Variety
• Vineyard
• Vintage

wine type	Name, Type, Locale	Year
White - Sparkling	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Strange But Not A Stranger White - Sparkling, Australia, Victoria	NV
Rosé - Sparkling	Joshua Cooper Straws Lane Rosé - Sparkling, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2018
Rosé	Joshua Cooper Pinot Rosé Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022
Rosé	Joshua Cooper Rosé (View Label Image) Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2023
Rosé	Joshua Cooper Rosé Of Doug’s Vineyard (View Label Image) Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022 2020 2019 2018 2017
Rosé	Joshua Cooper Spring Rose (View Label Image) Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022 2019
Rosé	Joshua Cooper The Central Highlands & Ranges Rosé Rosé, Australia, Victoria	2023 2019
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay White, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2021
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Captains Creek Vineyard (View Label Image) White, Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Ballarat	2019 2018 2017 2016 2007
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Cope Vineyard White, Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Ballarat	2018
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Cope-Williams (View Label Image) White, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2019 2018
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Dash Farms (View Label Image) White, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria	2022 2021
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Par Contre White, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2018 2012
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay Special Reserve White, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2019 2018
White	Joshua Cooper Chardonnay The Old Port Righ Vineyard (View Label Image) White, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
White	Joshua Cooper Riesling It is what it is (View Label Image) White, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2013
White	Joshua Cooper Sauvignon Blanc White, Australia, Victoria	2023
White	Joshua Cooper The Flat White White, Australia, Victoria	2013
White	Joshua Cooper Vermentino Contemplation Wine One White, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2013
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2023 2022 2021 2020
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Balgownie Vineyard (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Bendigo	2022 2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Dash Farm (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria	2022 2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Landsborough Shay's Flat (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees	2022 2021 2020
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc Red, Australia, Victoria	2023
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Pressings Balgownie Vineyard Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Bendigo	2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Pressings Balgownie Vineyard 1970 Block (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Bendigo	2022 2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Redbank Vineyard (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees	2022
Red	Joshua Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon Spring (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2023 2022 2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Grenache Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2013
Red	Joshua Cooper Grenache Willoughby Bridge Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2013
Red	Joshua Cooper Greytown Old Vines (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2022
Red	Joshua Cooper House Red Red, Australia, Victoria	2022 2020 2019
Red	Joshua Cooper Nebbiolo Willoughby Bridge (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2013
Red	Joshua Cooper Old Vine Cuvee I (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2022
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2023 2022 2021 NV
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2023
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Doug's Vineyard (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Ray-Monde (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Sans Soufre (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2017
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Spring (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2022 2021 2019 2018 2017
Red	Joshua Cooper Pinot Noir Straws Lane Vineyard (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	2017
Red	Joshua Cooper Spring (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2021
Red	Joshua Cooper Syrah Saddleback (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees	2023
Red	Joshua Cooper The Springs (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote	2020 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Red	Joshua Cooper The Williams Vineyard (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria	2022
Red	Joshua Cooper Untitled (View Label Image) Red, Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges	NV