Jack Tomich stands at the top of his family’s vineyard in the Woodside district of the Adelaide Hills, and all he sees around him, 360 degrees, is horizons.
To the north east, Mt Torrens. To the southwest-ish, Mt Lofty. Closer in, over a nearby range, is Lenswood. The Tomich family estate sits pretty well mid-region, reaching up to around the 400m altitude mark, and in many ways is a case study in what makes the Adelaide Hills such a complex place to grow grapes and create the best of them into wines that are bang on in terms of their climatic coolness.
Multiple aspects around the compass, east-west, north-south row orientations to match, higher, lower and everything in between. Plenty of sunshine to go around. Pick your choice of terroir, choose your varieties, select your clones.
Jack is third generation Tomich in this place, his grandfather John and father Randal setting out 30 or so blocks in the total of 63 hectares under vine and crafting a fairly traditional style of Hills wines under the eponymous family brand sporting a big T on the front label – sauvignon blanc, riesling, pinot grigio, gruner veltliner, chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz.
Actually, make that fourth and fifth generation, as Jack’s great-great-grandfather Jack senior home-made his family’s wine and grew sultanas and wine grapes in Mildura in the 1930s, followed by his son Ivan, who produced and sold wine to local farmers in the area a decade later.
As with any young winemaker taking on such family tradition, it’s not surprising that Jack has his own ideas on what is next. Enter Cloudbreak, his own way forward, tapping into the family’s Woodside vineyard, adding new clones, reworking blocks, and bringing them to life in a set of wines that has a new identity with his own sense of next-generational character.
What that reveals across a range of styles is he’s not shy of generous fruit flavours. Peak ripeness. Modest weight.
Something for the serious minded – a Premier Collection, limited release pair of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, delivered in a good-looking, chunky bottle under cork.
And something more for easier going occasions, everyday perhaps, fun to splash around – a Nouveau Collection that carries six whites and two reds.
The family brand, also under Jack’s winemaking remit, is traditionally riper and generous in flavour, Jack notes, so he is taking that knowledge into his own project.
“I want to give a bit more of a delicate touch, kind of carrying off the back of the family styles, but a bit more fun and youthful, Jack says.
“I’m trying to make wines that are one, delicious, and two, consumer friendly – not necessarily in the commercial sense of that, but in a drinkability way.”
Next comes a new brand to focus purely on his beloved Pinot varieties – Devil Made Pinot, currently with a Gris and a Noir, and soon to include a few single clone releases.
There’s a sense of adventure in all of them, a couple of surprises hidden within the wines themselves, a nod to the hard work his family has put into the vineyard, a keen nose for what his generation fancies in a bottle of wine.
“The main focus is Pinot Noir as it’s my passion, as well as my father’s and my grandfather’s passion,” Jack says. “And then it’s more about really honing in a style that comes from the property.”
No shortage of plans for the future. And those horizons, it seems, have no limits.
Watch this space.
Cloudbreak Blanc de Noir Sparkling NV
92 points $30
An 85% Pinot Noir/ 15% Chardonnay cuvee from Jack Tomich’s Adelaide Hills family vineyard at Woodside. Pale pink in the glass, immediately generous strawberry and cream styling with a dash of Pink Lady apple flavour as well, lively acidity with a berry tartness yet still with a sense of some bottle age, a subtle suggestion of yeast pastry the result. Lots of joy in the glass.
Devil Made Pinot Gris 2025
92 Points. $25
Devil Made is a new line within the Cloudbreak brand, created to concentrate on winemaker Jack Tomich’s love of all things Pinot, white and red. This has a tickle of gewurztraminer in the mix, which you can sense in the palate especially, the aromas leading with a white floral note. Turkish Delight, Beurre Bosc pear and mouthwatering apple flesh and pith all add to the pleasures here in this attractive, fragrant and pleasing style.
Cloudbreak Nouveau Collection Pinot Gris 2024
93 Points $28
Leaning into the PG style that takes the variety towards a more generous expression, we start here with a subtle white rose and apple blossom bouquet which sets the palate in the right direction, a little skin contact, four hours, winemaker Jack Tomich reveals, and some lees work as well, showing in a wine with body and texture and offering more depth and length than many in the same varietal stream.
Cloudbreak Nouveau Collection Chardonnay 2024
92 Points $28
Green to gold hues in the glass. Glossy. A quiet restraint to begin: smells of Spring season in the Adelaide Hills, wafts of bush florals. Its gentle frame of mind continues with subtle flavours: just ripe white nectarine, Fuji apple, a tang of lime, all captured in a neatly weighted palate line encompassing some woody spice and oyster shell feels as well. Not showy in any way, yet encouraging and deserving of a little extra time to express its quiet demeanour.
Cloudbreak Premier Collection Chardonnay 2024
93 Points $45
In a distinctive, chunky, high shouldered bottle; part of the label’s limited release program from the Adelaide Hills. Enticing mid-gold in the glass. Lovely ripe Chardonnay bouquet with some deeper notes, peaches and cream, cashew butter, a faint flintiness, styled to celebrate some richness in the variety rather that the oft-seen trend towards leaner and citrus dominated characters. Mouth-filling flavours echoing summer stone fruits, textures with a lip-smack response without any sharpness. No shyness here, with quite a swagger in its manner. Cries out for a delicious Coq au Vin made with the same variety.
Cloudbreak Premier Collection Chardonnay 2022
93 Points. $45
Makes an immediate statement in a distinctive, chunky, high shouldered bottle; part of the label’s limited release program from the Adelaide Hills. Winemaker Jack Tomich is choosing to craft a richer Chardonnay style that suggests some exotic spice in the mix with ripe stone fruits and lime in a curd-filled pastry setting. The palate is completed with a satisfying minerally, pithy finish. Quite fulfilling with a confidence and willingness to let the flavour angels fly.
Devil Made Pinot Noir 2025
92 Points $25
The first-released red in this newly branded set of wines by Jack Tomich, designed as his Pinot focused project. All grown at the family vineyards in the Adelaide Hills district of Woodside, crafted as a juicy, drink-it-now style with all the varietal cherry, raspberry, fruit strap notes you would expect yet still emboldened with peppery spice in the palate and enough feathery tannins to accompany a decent plate of charcuterie, terrine or Peking Duck.
Cloudbreak Nouveau Collection Pinot Noir 2024
93 Points $28
Shiny ruby tones. Crushed cherry aromas with a waft of flinty stuck match – just enough to tell of some barrel ferment. A layer of herbals in the palate adds to the bouquet, while a delicate Aperol-like edge offers some subtle gastronomic bitters in the finish. Let this air for a few hours to bring out its best, as it’s still a bit reserved right now, though as a well-priced, everyday expression of the variety, you’re already in good company.
Cloudbreak Premier Collection Pinot Noir 2024
95 Points $45
Darker ruby toned, fragrant with high-toned crimson fruits and a Middle Eastern savoury herb and spice seasoning: oregano, sumac, sage, red peppercorn, and a pop of whole bunch for some lift and slide into the palate. This is where the wine finds a sophisticated elegance to its character, and also where a surprise is revealed, offering an explanation for its distinctive fragrance – a 5% inclusion of gewurztraminer grapes after a number of rogue vines were accidentally left in the Tomich family’s Adelaide Hills vineyard while new Pinot Noir grafts were established several years ago. So, why not let the unusual block tell its own truth, which it does via a suggestion of dark rose and black pepper along with familiar varietal notes of black cherry fruit. A wine with a madly unique story and deliciousness to match it.
Cloudbreak Syrah 2023
94 Points. $28
One of Jack Tomich’s Nouveau Collection in his own rising portfolio out of his family’s Woodside vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. This conveys its Syrah badging clearly in the svelte management of still quite dark fruit – cherry/plum/mulberry – to present a juicy, ripe, berry crush with gentle peppery spice and a neatly dusted spray of snapped gum twigs and bush track smells – nose and palate. Very attractive on the drink-desirability scale.
