Fleet Wines
Leongatha, Victoria
Lisa and Justin Jenkins have over thirty years of combined experience working in Melbourne’s iconic wine bars and restaurants. This painted a clear picture of what makes an alluring wine. Their expertise has now turned to winemaking with a focus on flavour, texture, and sheer enjoyment.
In 2016, the duo returned to South Gippsland, Justin’s childhood home, to create Fleet Wines. The name reflects their commitment to sourcing grapes from diverse regions. Crafted in small quantities, each bottle of Fleet Wine captures a fleeting moment in time, celebrating place and variety.
Fleet Wines embodies their fresh, open approach to winemaking. Every vintage and plot is coaxed into revealing its best, resulting in releases that are exciting and occasionally unpredictable but always deliciously pure and fun.
Lisa’s background as a chef and sommelier, along with her wine show judging and pursuit of the WSET Diploma, infuses their wines with technical sophistication. Justin’s connection to South Gippsland shines through in their soulful wines. Their recent purchase of a small farm, ‘Ever Rêve’, near Leongatha, where they close-planted 4 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines, underscores their commitment to the region. 2025 will see their first harvest from the family vineyard.
At Fleet, each parcel of fruit is approached with fresh eyes, drawing on their vast experience to explore wine's exciting possibilities. Their lo-fi methods create expressive, delicious wines, perfect for sharing with friends.
We’re proud to share Fleet wines with our customers in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales.
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Vaite Teriierooiterai – Master of Wine Business, AWAC and WSET Diploma candidate
2024 Chardonnay ‘Tarrawarra’
Fruit coming from the highly acclaimed Denton Vineyard in Tarrawarra, Yarra Valley. Planted in 1995, South-facing, 200m above sea level, offers a naturally cooler profile throughout the growing season. Lovely core of ripe orchard fruits and driving acidity underpins this wine.
Winemaking:
Whole-bunch pressed tank for settling, then racked to neutral puncheons for fermentation.
Lees stirred throughout elevage, then racked prior to bottling.
50% malo-lactic fermentation.
Tasting Notes:
‘“Bright pale lemon colour, yellow stone fruits, smoky/grilled almonds and flinty/mineral notes. Citrus backbone, powerful and salivating length.”
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2024 Chardonnay ‘Leongatha’
A deliciously textural wine that offers depth and weight on the palate thanks to barrel fermentation and lees stirring. Grown in the red basalt soils situated in these cooler parts of South Gippsland provide the wine with layers of complexity and flavour.
Winemaking:
Whole-bunch pressed to tank for settling, then racked to a neutral puncheons for fermentation.
Lees stirred throughout elevage, then racked prior to bottle.
100% Malolactic Fermentation.
Tasting Notes:
"Bright lemon/straw colour, sea spray/oyster-shell, pear & quince. A textural wine with beeswax, white nougat and a flinty mineral backbone. Poised and balanced drive on the finish."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2022 Pinot Noir / Gris ‘Elevate’
The fruit comes from Dunns Creek in Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula. 23-year-old vines planted on friable basalt rich clay loam soils, facing North. An unconventional blend of related grape varieties. The name evokes Lisa and Justin’s desire to grow, to risk, and to propel themselves further toward knowing. Always dreaming, always learning.
Winemaking:
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Gris. The Pinot Noir was de-stemmed while the Pinot Gris was whole-bunch fermented. The two were kept separate and pressed to neutral oak, then assembled post malolactic fermentation and barrel maturation. It was bottled with minimal sulphur, un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
"Aromatic, punchy fruit. The palate is electric with pure red fruits. Alluring and bright aromas, spiced liquorice plums. Fleshy texture with a long savoury, crunchy finish."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2023 ‘Balnarring’ Pinot Noir
The fruit comes from Balnarring, Mornington Peninsula. The 20-year-old vines face North, they grow on sandy, clay loam and coffee rock based soils. The 2023 Balnarring Pinot Noir shows the difference in soil profile from the red volcanic soil in Leongatha, the sandy loam soils offer lifted spices & vibrant blue fruits. Its brambly, and layered, with great detail and length.
Winemaking:
50% de-stemmed berries fermented for 18 days, and 50% whole-bunch clusters fermented for 21 days, then pressed to puncheons (20% new). It was bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
"Vibrant red colour, heady-spice aromas swirling around a fleshy textural core of fruit. Powerful yet fine gravelly tannins, taught and lively finish."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2024 Pinot Noir ‘Leongatha’
The fruit comes from the Leongatha Vineyard, South Gippsland. Planted in 1990 facing North, on an easterly aspect. The deeply rooted vines grow on basalt rich and clay loam soils. The 2023 Leongatha Pinot Noir has incredible balance & poise. Another long, cool season resulting in elegance & drive.
Winemaking:
40% whole-bunch clusters fermented for 21 days, then racked to neutral puncheons for fermentation. It was bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
"Bright crimson red colour, vibrant lifted aromatics on the nose, wild mulberry & raspberries, earthy/autumnal undercurrent with layers of five-spice and a lifted herbal note unfurling in the glass, with silty/slippery pinot tannins carrying the fruit to a long finish."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2023 ‘Nostalgia’ Pinot Noir
The fruit comes from the Leongatha Vineyard, South Gippsland. Planted in 1990 facing North, on an easterly aspect. The deeply rooted vines grow on basalt rich and clay loam soils.
NOSTALGIA; embracing love and emotions. The wine is a reflection on the connection to a place, and how that is both at once comforting, but coloured with longing and loss. It is through a lens of connection and longing they decided to make a wine that is a pure expression of a place, a terroir, they love.
Drink this now with a decant, or cellar over the next 5-10 years.
Winemaking:
70% de-stemmed berries naturally fermented for 18 days, and 30% whole-bunch clusters fermented for 21 days, then pressed to puncheons (25% new). It was bottled with minimal sulphur, un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
"Deep crimson burgundy colour, perfumed aromatics – florals, cherry, plums – with earthy, spice notes. Leading to a complex and layered palate. A lot of structure and fruit weight, with purity and drive with acid and tannin interplay. Interesting, intriguing and alluring."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2023 Syrah / Pinot Noir ‘LDR’
The fruit comes from the Leongatha Vineyard, South Gippsland. Planted in 1990 facing North, on an easterly aspect. The deeply rooted vines grow on basalt rich and clay loam soils. Over the years, Lisa and Justin have enjoyed drinking and producing this style of wine and V23 gave them an opportunity to showcase the vibrancy captured from Syrah grown on their Leongatha vineyard. The 20% Pinot Noir addition throws heady spices into the mix.
Winemaking:
80% Syrah, 20% Pinot Noir. 30% whole-bunch clusters fermented, then pressed to neutral puncheons for malolactic fermentation. It was bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
‘Bright Cassis colour, lifted florals, blackcurrent and five-spice on the nose. Juicy, fleshy with hallmarks of a lovely cool vintage, oodles of vibrancy and just plain fun to drink.’ Lisa & Justin Jenkins - Fleet Wines
2023 Pinot Noir / Syrah / Chardonnay ‘Chorus et al.’
Inspired by viewing the vineyard as a whole and letting the varieties come together and sing… much like that hook in a song that keeps you coming back!
A red wine built on texture and freshness that is modelled on finding a really pleasurable experience of place regardless of the variety.
Made with all three varietals grown in the vineyard; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Each variety has an influence, but works in harmony with the others.
Winemaking:
Organically grown at the Leongatha vineyard in South Gippsland, this blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Syrah, and 20% Chardonnay comes from 33-year-old vines on north-facing rows.
The Pinot underwent 40% whole bunch fermentation for 21 days, while the rest was 70% de-stemmed and naturally fermented for 18 days. Pressed and matured in neutral puncheons, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Notes:
"Bright cassis colour, earthy, herbal/brambly aromatics, lively wild blackberries, sappy/crunchy texture, silty/fine tannins. It has understated weight and texture. It’s an endlessly interesting wine that leaves you wanting more.”
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
2023 Cabernet ‘Chirnside’
The fruit comes from the Chirnside Vineyard, Yarra Valley. Planted in 1990 facing North, on an easterly aspect. The deeply rooted vines grow on basalt rich and clay loam soils. The 2023 Chirnside Cabernet was a treat to make. After working with Mac Forbes, and really honing in on claret styles of cabernet making gave Lisa and Justin an opportunity to work with a very special older vineyard that’s very well suited to growing excellent Cabernet. A classic style, coming from a long cool ripening season, gifted with vibrancy and elegance.
Winemaking:
100% de-stemmed and naturally fermented for 21 days, and pressed to neutral hogsheads. It was bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Tasting Notes:
"Deep blue/purple colour, vibrant lifted aromatics on the nose, cassis, heady spices, anise, wild fennel, tobacco leaf. Fleshy, juicy blackcurrant and blueberries that glide like velvet. Tannins interweave to a long finish."
Lisa & Justin Jenkins — Fleet Wines
Lichen Range
The name ‘lichen’ is inspired by nature and illustrated on the label. Lichens are used to describe the constant symbiosis found in nature. This is mirrored in our dependancy on each other. Just as we need each other to thrive, the lichen wines are made to be shared and enjoyed.
Summer drinking under a tree, in the sun, or by the water. We are always moving, evolving, a series of fleeting moments… just like wine is an expression of a time and place!
2024 ‘Lichen’ Pinot Gris
This Pinot Gris is all about texture, weight, and pure drinkability. It's thirst quenching and dry. It is bright and floral with a salivating tail of acidity.
Winemaking:
With its reddish grape origins, it’s crafted into a bold style, thanks to some astute skin contact. Clare Burder and her family from their High Plateau vineyard in the Whitlands grow the fruit. The wine was made in two parts. Kept separate then blended prior to bottling. 30% whole bunch pressed, barrel fermented and then 70% de-stemmed fermented on skins for 21 days. Skins ferment was then pressed to neutral puncheons for elevage. Lees stirred to build texture.
Tasting Notes:
The result is a stunning pink peach colour. Aromas of pear, watermelon and ginger spice fill the nose, while the palate is balanced and has lovely texture coming from the skin contact with a long zippy acidity driving the wine. It’s incredibly moreish! Every sip delivers a refreshing zing that pairs beautifully with white fish, seafood, or Thai-inspired dishes packed with ginger, chilli, and lime.
2024 ‘Lichen’ Rosé
This rosé exudes serious aperitif energy—pale pink with zesty red berries and a smooth, creamy finish — it conjures up warm days and beach holidays.
Winemaking:
This is 100% Syrah coming from Justin and Lisa’s 34-year-old own-rooted vines grown in the red volcanic basalt soils in Leongatha, South Gippsland. Barrel-fermented in seasoned barriques to build texture. The wine shows excellent weight and concentration, with a fine line of acidity keeping everything in its right place. Partial malolactic fermentation builds complimentary texture and shape to complement its salivating line. A vibrant Rosé that is kept simple to reveal proper fruit quality.
Tasting Notes:
Dusty pale pink colour, aromas of fresh strawberry, red currants, hint of herbal spice. Palate is fine and savoury, textural, with a dry crisp finish. It’s a perfect match for anything from smoked salmon and charcuterie to tomato-based pastas and grilled meats. Versatile enough for hearty salads, root vegetables, or even a tikka masala.
2024 ‘Lichen’ Pinot Meunier
Vibrant, fresh plummy fruits lifted by a heady mix of florals, low tannin structure, make this a perfect chilled red option over the warmer months.
Winemaking:
This 2024 Whitlands Pinot Meunier coming from Clare Burder’s family vineyard. Sitting at 800m above sea level, the elevation plays a huge role in this crunchy, vibrant style of Pinot Meunier. 100% de-stemmed fruit, wild yeast fermented for 22days in open top fermenters. It was matured in neutral puncheons.
Tasting Notes:
Bright purple hue, heady spices – anise, lifted cassis, white pepper, juicy/fleshy core, silty tannins that weave through the wine, elegant, medium bodied and moreish!
2024 ‘Lichen’ Pinot Noir
This 2024 South Gippsland Pinot Noir has depth and detail in spades. Perfect for lazy weekend afternoons or impromptu weeknight dinners. Give it a swirl, maybe decant, or skip it all for a casual drink. Either way, it’s all there—vibrant, savoury notes and crunchy red fruit. Light, juicy, and endlessly refreshing.
Winemaking:
Another cooler long harvest has resulted in wines with serious pedigree. It’s made of a barrel selection of 115 clone and D5V12 and 777 clones planted to 34-year-old vines standing on their own roots in Justin and Lisa’s Leongatha vineyard. All maturation occurred in neutral puncheons. 85% was de-stemmed 15% whole-bunch, all wild yeast fermented in open top fermenters.
Tasting Notes:
It kicks off with a vibrant, electric colour. The nose and palate follow suit—baking spices, sour cherries, and a touch of raspberry, all wrapped in fine tannins. Light in body but full of flavour, this Pinot Noir is pure charm in a glass. Perfect with juicy duck or lamb. It will shine alongside mushroom dishes, risotto, or even roast salmon.
