No fluffy bullshit, and making decisions in a day. Introducing: Jo Marsh
HER NAME
JO
MAKES SIPS AT
BILLY BUTTON
Jo's a straight-talker. In other words - there's no fluffy bullshit. She thinks that makes her "boring", but we think it's endearing. She’s also the most decisive person we think we’ve ever spoken to: Within the timeframe of one day, she made the decision to pull out of her Chemical Engineering degree to pursue wine-making. She then made the decision to start her own wine label and quit her then-current winemaking job... Yep, you guessed it - within a day.
We feel Billy Button wines are much the same as Jo’s character; what you see is what you get. They're interesting and complex - yet uber approachable.
Billy Button as a business is also heavily her-led. Jo has two part-time female winemakers working at Billy Button. Why part-time, you ask? Well, they've just had babies and they're also starting their own wine labels. Damn, power to you women who do it all.
“I was at university and I was studying Chemical Engineering and I was just like, “this is boring. I don’t wanna do this for the rest of my life?!”. In a tutorial, someone mentioned how they wanted to explore the wine industry, and I thought, “Hmm… wine…”. The next day I pulled out of engineering. And the same thing happened when I was at work at the other winery, thinking about other things, like starting my own label. And yeah… handed in my resignation the next day.”
SIP’ER: What is your key role within Billy Button? Is there anyone else that leads it with you?
JO: I started the label back in 2014 on my own. And now it’s grown pretty dramatically since then. I met my husband in 2015, got married in 2016 - and he was working in Tasmania for a winery there up until I fell pregnant. He decided to leave Tasmania and come on board working for the business full time. So… he has his own brand - no, actually two brands - and then Billy Button is mine, in a sense. We’ve also got two part-time female winemakers, obviously part-time because they’ve now got babies! They’ve also just started their own brands…
SIP’ER: Wow, it’s all happening!
JO: Yeah, it’s a pretty full-on business.
SIP’ER: We’re actually really interested to know where the name ‘Billy Button’ came from?
JO: It’s actually named after the little yellow flowers on the label. When I started Billy Button, the reason I started was I’d moved up here a couple of years beforehand and I worked for another winery. I met all the growers and fell in love with the region and the wines, but I had never really heard about Alpine Valleys as a wine region. That follows on in that the growers had lower demand for their fruit because no one’s ever heard of Alpine Valleys. Beechworth is like 30-40km away and everyone’s heard of Beechworth - and they get twice the price for their fruit than we do here. So Billy Button was my way of helping the region, I suppose. It was all about Alpine Valleys. So I really wanted something associated with the region in the name. And those Billy Buttons - when you go up the mountain - in the summer on the ski fields, they’re just covered in flowers. We also wanted it to be an approachable brand as I know a lot of people are put off by wine snobbery. I just wanted it to be fun, friendly and get people into it.
SIP’ER: That’s one of our focuses with SIP’ER as well. We don’t want people to feel intimidated by trying new things and finding out what they like. And just, enjoy it and not drinking something just because you feel like you should like it.
Our next question was how did you start… but I think you’ve already covered it!
JO: [laughs] It’s funny actually, because there are two defining moments in my life. The first one was when I was at university and I was studying Chemical Engineering and I was just like, “this is boring. I don’t wanna do this for the rest of my life?!”. In a tutorial, someone mentioned how they wanted to explore the wine industry, and I thought, “Hmm… wine…”. Anyway, so I organised a tour of the wine campus out at Waite and the next day I pulled out of engineering. I just made a decision - like that. In a day. And the same thing happened when I was at work at the other winery, thinking about other things, like starting my own label. And yeah… handed in my resignation the next day.
SIP’ER: Straight in - love it.
JO: I honestly had no idea how I was going to make the wine, how I was going to do it. Nothing. I was just like, “I have to do this!”.
SIP’ER: We love how decisive you are.
What inspires you to keep going with Billy Button?
JO: For me, it’s two fold. It’s introducing people to the interesting varieties that we make. Some of the varieties we do are pretty rare in the world, not just in Australia. Lately, we find people just like discovering things. I love that part. But for me, it’s working with the local community - a network of growers so I just love helping the region.
SIP’ER: If you had to match one of your wines with your personality, which would it be?
JO: I feel like it’s a white. I’m tossing up between the Gewurztraminer and the Vermentino. The Gewurztraminer is very open, out there and delicious. Whereas the Vermentino we call it ‘The Versatile’ because you can have it with lots of different things and you can have it any way and I feel like I kind of have to be that in this business!
SIP’ER: What has been your career highlight so far?
JO: It was the 2018 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. When we won the ‘Best Nebbiolo’ trophy. That show is like the benchmark for me. I never enter many shows, but that show is special. That’s where my husband and I hooked up the first time, [laughs] and then we got engaged there. So it’s a pretty special place and we go there every year. It’s always been a goal of mine to win a trophy there. Particularly because the previous award winners of ‘Best Nebbiolo’ were pretty high esteemed wines. So that was pretty special.
SIP’ER: So we’re guessing you’d pair a Billy Button Nebbiolo with that moment?!
JO: Yep. Definitely.
SIP’ER: What is the toughest part of your job that not many people would know about?
JO: I would have to say vintage. ‘Cause it’s so draining. Now that we’re getting a bit bigger, we’re able to get a bit more help. But back in the early years during vintage, you’re working so many hours of the day and you’re so so tired all you wanna do is sleep, but you just can’t because the next day there will be more fruit coming, then more fruit coming and so on… You can’t stop because the fruit is ripe and you gotta pick them. You can’t put anything on hold. That’s probably the hardest part but at the same time it’s the most exciting because that’s when the wines are made. So I think that’s what keeps you going as well. It’s fairly manageable now because we don’t tend to do more than 12-14 hour days. Try to keep it at 12… But I remember in those early years, I slept at the winery - I didn’t even leave the winery.
SIP’ER: Oh wow… So what drink would you feel like after a long day of vintage?
JO: Vintage goes with beer. At the end of the day you gotta have knock off drinks in your fridge. For us, it’s the Bridge Road Pale Ale because it’s a local brewery. It’s so refreshing at the end of the day. Vintage is hot at that time of year, so you’re exhausted and thirsty.
[SCENE: Jo’s baby starts crying. She steps outside her house.]
JO: Alrighty.. I’ll leave my husband with that! [laughs] I’ll show you why I love the Alpine Valleys.
[SCENE: Jo pans her camera around the property and the Alpine Valleys in the distance]
SIP’ER: So stunning!!
JO: It’s a beautiful region!
[SCENE: Two dogs come running up to the phone screen]
JO: These are our winery dogs!
SIP’ER: Is this what heaven’s like?! This is the best interview EVER.
[SCENE: Jo’s daughter now comes up to the phone screen]
JO: Wanna say hi?!
SIP’ER: Hiiiiiiiiii!
JO: She’s smiling again now. So let’s hope that stays. [laughs]
SIP’ER: What’s your favourite wine you produce?
JO: Oooooh that’s really tricky. When you make 23 varieties and 35 different wines…
SIP’ER: I guess it’s like picking a favourite child. You just can’t do it.
JO: I have soft spots for certain things. I’d probably have to pick out the Schioppettino which is a rare variety which we only make tiny amounts of. There’s very little of it in Australia and very little of it in the world. Australia’s pretty much the only place outside of Friuli that it’s grown and it's just a super interesting wine. Every year as the vines are getting older, it just gets more and more interesting and it's such a rare variety. So I think that’s probably a special one.
SIP’ER: We will have to try it!
JO: We’ve been sold out of it for ages but the ‘21 will be coming out around Easter!
SIP’ER: Which of your wines brings you the most joy and happy memories?
JO: I have one that’s the opposite…
SIP’ER: Haha perfect - tell us that one!
JO: The Friulano. That’s also a white variety that's quite rare and very challenging to grow and get right. So in the early years particularly I spent a lot of time in the vineyard with the grower and hand picking. It’s got quite thin skin and big berries so it doesn’t do too well in our moist climate. It’s just nightmare picking! But I think it makes you appreciate it even more when you know how much work has gone into it.
SIP’ER: What do you want people to take away from the experience after drinking Billy Button?
JO: Enjoyment, I guess!
SIP’ER: Simple as that.
JO: Yeah pretty much... and hopefully they may want to try some of the other wines in our range! And maybe think about the Alpine Valleys region, look it up, come for a holiday, look up other wines from there.
SIP’ER: What is the best way to consume Billy Button?
JO: I’m a bit boring! I think because we have a focus on a lot of Italian varieties and I think they particularly shine with food so my favourite thing is just having it with a bit of a cheese and produce platter. And that’s what we do at our cellar door in town and it's become a huge part of our business now because they just go so well with food. I think to fully appreciate a lot of them it’s even better to have them with food.
SIP’ER: Can’t go past a good cheese board!
JO: That was my thing during last vintage was Friday nights, just having a nice little gourmet platter with nice things on it and a glass of wine as your little treat to wind down after a big week so that would be my special treat.