Jasper Button, a second generation winegrowers from South Australia’s Basket Range, never really intended to make wine himself. A chef by training, he spent much of his life cooking throughout Europe and surfing, but found himself home among his family’s organically grown vines in 2013. There, a meeting with Anton van Klopper of Lucy Margaux who came to purchase some fruit gave Jasper and his sister Sophie the idea of taking a crack at making wine. Jasper partnered with van Klopper at the seminal restaurant the Summertown Aristologist and joined a loose affiliation of South Australian natural wine makers, including Jauma and Ochota Bottles. “We were playing around with grapes,” Jasper says. “I didn’t really know what to expect. We had 20-year-old vines, and I wanted to find success with those vines. I wanted to make something out of the property. I didn’t come back with an ambition of making wine at all; it wasn’t really about that; it was about finding an economic solution for a really lovely farm.”

The Commune of Buttons is a 28 ha farm named Fernglen, the majority of which is used for pasturage or other agriculture. The Commune part of the name comes from Jasper’s insistence that all wine is a collaborative effort – in conversation, he mentions working harvest with Justin Dutraive in Beaujolais and the sense of community and belonging he found there as days of work evolved into skill sharing, parties and late night conversations. The farm is surrounded by stringybark eucalyptus forests on all sides and consists of rolling hills with an average height of 350m. The soil at Fernglen is red clay with ironstone pebbles over sandstone bedrock. Key to Commune of Buttons, Jasper tells us, is the presence of several creeks on the property and the marked diurnal shift – despite the punishing heat, the wines maintain acidity, natural minerality and a crunchy bite to the reds that make them refreshing and easy to drink.
The oldest 3 ha of vineyards were planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Nebbiolo between 1993 and 1995. To this, Jasper has planted an additional 1ha of Xarello (likely the first Xarello in Australia, and yes, we’ve already suggested we’ll need quite a lot of it) Chenin Blanc and Gamay that he anticipates getting fruit off of next vintage. Jasper manages the vineyards via mulch applications, teas and BD composts. In addition to his own fruit, Jasper sources a minute quantity from other growers, most notably Fiona Wood, who is the absolute local authority on Grenache. Although most of his methods are biodynamic, Jasper defines himself as a practical farmer, and one who anticipates problems before they start, rather than just planting based on the moon cycle. Chief among his methods is green regenerative pruning, which to Jasper is absolutely critical in setting the tone of a vineyard.” Pruning is just as important as looking after the soil. If it’s right, everything else follows that.”
Jasper’s cellar work doubles down on the practicality, while also leaning into his own role as the creator of the wine. “It’s not just about intention,” he told us, “you also have to make the shit out of the wine.” To this end, Jasper has chosen to prioritize texture and development in his wines. As a rule, his reds see a short period in barriques on the gross lees to break down the primary fruit notes, before a racking to steel for 8 months to rebuild tightness and freshness. His whites, in contrast, see 2 winters in demimuids on the lees as a way of building around and balancing the searing natural acid. Low and slow and cool ferments are the bywords for Commune of Button’s cellar work, with the ultimate goal of purity and stability. Jasper uses anywhere from 10-20ppm SO2 on his wines, but never right before bottling – the trick, he tells us, is to give the wine time to adjust and absorb, with the goal of making wine you never have to apologize for.