From the Kitchen to the Commune
Jasper Button never intended to make wine. A chef by training, he spent his twenties cooking throughout Europe and surfing. Then he came home to Fernglen — a 28-hectare former hippie commune in Basket Range where his mother had planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines in the early 1990s. The grapes had always been sold to other producers. But when Anton van Klopper arrived to buy fruit, something shifted. Anton introduced Jasper to natural wine — and the rest is history. In 2013, Jasper made his first barrels of Chardonnay. In 2014, Commune of Buttons was born. By 2016, his ABC Chardonnay was being poured at René Redzepi's Noma pop-up in Sydney, and Jasper had been named Best New Act at the Young Gun of Wine Awards. Today, Commune of Buttons is one of Australia's benchmark estates for natural wine — a testament to what happens when a chef's precision meets a farmer's patience, and when a family decides to take control of its own fruit.
A Family Farm, A Hippie Commune & A Chef's Return
The Button family's property — Fernglen — sits in Basket Range, a lush pocket of the Adelaide Hills surrounded by stringybark eucalyptus forests. It was a former hippie commune, and the name Commune of Buttons honours that heritage: three families were involved in the original planting and tending of the vines, and the harvest each year still necessitates the help of friends and family. "A community to raise a bottle," as they put it. The oldest 3 hectares of vines were planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo between 1993 and 1995 by Jasper and Sophie's mother. For two decades, the fruit was sold to other producers. The Buttons were growers, not winemakers.
Jasper had left to become a chef. He cooked throughout Europe, surfed, and lived a life far from the vineyard. But in 2013, he returned to South Australia to help with the family property. The economic reality was stark — selling grapes was no longer providing for the family. Anton van Klopper of Lucy Margaux came to buy some fruit, and in that meeting, everything changed. Anton introduced Jasper to natural wine, and Jasper had his lightbulb moment. "Wow! This is what wine is meant to taste like. Now I get it!" He made a couple of barrels of Chardonnay from unsold fruit in 2013. In 2014, Commune of Buttons was officially born — the label, the dream, and the beginning of a new chapter for a family that had been growing grapes for twenty years but had never bottled their own.
Sophie Button, Jasper's sister, is his partner in the venture. She too had left — travelling, working, living abroad — before returning to help revive the family vineyard. Together, they introduced organic and then biodynamic farming practices. The early wines were experimental, immediate, juicy and fruit-forward — very much in the spirit of the embryonic natural wine scene in Basket Range. But Jasper's approach quickly became more nuanced. His curiosity and desire to push boundaries led to a more considered, self-reflective style. Vintages spent in Piemonte, Burgundy, Jura and Beaujolais informed his direction. The chef's precision never left him — but it was now applied to vines and barrels, not plates and pans.
"We spend so much time working in the vines, and that's where it all starts for me. To make good wine, the vineyard has to be looked after in a particular way. The love you put in is the love you get back."
— Jasper Button
Fernglen & Beyond — Organic, Biodynamic, Low-Yielding
Jasper Button is now solely responsible for 4.2 hectares of vines managed by the commune, following the wines from vine to bottle. The hard yards are put in first in the vineyard. His viticultural approach incorporates organic and biodynamic practices: soil regeneration through cultivation and applications of mulch, teas and BD composts and preparations; green and regenerative pruning; and dry farming in mature vines. The vineyards are low-yielding, averaging just six tonnes per hectare. Jasper also sources a small volume of fruit from like-minded, organic growers in the cooler Piccadilly Valley adjacent to Basket Range — though the ultimate aim is to grow everything themselves.
The home vineyard at Fernglen sits at 350 metres on rolling hills surrounded by stringybark eucalyptus forests. The soil is red clay with ironstone pebbles over sandstone bedrock. Several creeks run through the property, and the marked diurnal shift — cool mornings, warm afternoons — gives the wines their signature natural acidity and minerality. The amphitheatre-like shape of the vineyard creates beautiful growing conditions where the vines stay cool in the mornings and warm up slowly during the day. "It gives the wines this lovely natural acidity and ripeness that plays off each other perfectly," Jasper says.
Key to Commune of Buttons is green regenerative pruning — "Pruning is just as important as looking after the soil," Jasper insists. "If it's right, everything else follows that." He defines himself as a practical farmer, one who anticipates problems before they start, rather than just planting based on the moon cycle. He has also planted new varieties — Xarel·lo (likely the first in Australia), Chenin Blanc and Gamay — expanding the estate's potential while staying true to the site's character. The farm is a polyculture: 28 hectares total, with the majority used for pasturage and other agriculture, not just vines.
28-hectare former hippie commune in Basket Range. 3.5 hectares of vines planted 1993–1995 to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo. Red clay with ironstone pebbles over sandstone bedrock at 350m. Surrounded by stringybark eucalyptus forests. Organic and biodynamic farming, dry-grown mature vines. New plantings of Xarel·lo, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.
Jasper sources a small volume of fruit from like-minded organic growers in the cooler Piccadilly Valley adjacent to Basket Range. Key sites include the Merrowbank Vineyard (sandy quartz and sandstone, 500m, south-facing, I10v1 Chardonnay clone, planted 1998) and the Cemetery Block and Deanery (fertile sandy loam and red clay over sandstone, organic Pinot Noir).
The vineyards average just six tonnes per hectare — exceptionally low by Australian standards. Dry farming in mature vines, green regenerative pruning, and meticulous canopy management ensure concentration and purity. "All that time and money farming — working around the clock — to produce something sub-standard would be an atrocity."
Jasper partnered with Anton van Klopper to open this seminal restaurant and wine bar in nearby Summertown. A collaboration between the Buttons and the van Kloppers, it serves as a cellar door, eatery, and community hub. The cellar is packed with their own wines plus hundreds of other no/low sulphur wines from neighbours and around the world, best enjoyed with dishes featuring produce from their own farms.
Old-World Philosophy, New-World Fruit
Jasper Button's winemaking is a marriage of old-world vinification philosophies and new-world fruit. Vintages spent in Piemonte, Burgundy, Jura and Beaujolais have informed every decision. Picking on natural acidity; gentle, slow extractions; cool fermentations; and minimal racking form the cornerstone of the stylistic expression. "It's not just about intention," Jasper says, "you also have to make the shit out of the wine." He prioritises texture and development, choosing to let the fruit speak rather than forcing it into a predetermined style.
The evolution has been clear. "When we started, we were really into whole bunch fermentation, inspired by winemakers from Burgundy and Beaujolais. But we found that didn't always work for our soils. Over time, we scaled that back and now focus on long, cool fermentations with gentle extraction." The result is purity of flavour that's unmistakable — wines that feel more precise, less wild, but still full of life. All wines are bottled via gravity onsite. Sulphur is only added when absolutely necessary, and levels never exceed 20 ppm. No filtration, no fining.
Jasper's reds see a short period in barriques on the gross lees to break down primary fruit notes, before racking to steel for 8 months to rebuild tightness and freshness. His whites, in contrast, see two winters in demi-muids on the lees as a way of building around and balancing the searing natural acid. Low and slow and cool ferments are the bywords. The ultimate goal is purity and stability — wines you never have to apologise for. "Natural wine is finding a place very quickly through many folks because it makes sense. It's about letting the fruit speak for itself, not the winemaker speaking for the fruit."
Poured at Noma — The ABC Moment
In 2016, Commune of Buttons' 2015 'ABC' Chardonnay was poured at René Redzepi's Noma pop-up in Sydney — a seismic moment for a winery that had only released its first vintage two years prior. The wine was fresh, vibrant and delicious, with an energy that made Jasper say "Wow! This is what wine is meant to taste like." That same year, Jasper was named Best New Act at the Young Gun of Wine Awards. The ABC Chardonnay — from 28-year-old dry-grown vines on red clay over sandstone, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in seasoned barriques, aged on full lees with bâtonnage — became the calling card for a new generation of Australian natural wine. "We've got six bottles left and it's such a pleasure to drink four years later, as it's a really wonderful wine."
A Chef's Precision, A Farmer's Patience
Jasper Button is a chef who became a winemaker, a surfer who became a farmer, and a pragmatist who became a poet. His background in professional kitchens gives him an unusual discipline in the cellar — an attention to detail, a respect for process, and an understanding that great results come from great ingredients. "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." But once he tasted what was possible — once Anton van Klopper opened that door — there was no going back.
The Basket Range community is central to everything. Jasper speaks of "fierce competition" among the local winemakers — Jauma, Ochota Barrels, BK Wines, Lucy Margaux — but insists it's "nice competition, actually. You taste other people's wines and go, 'That's new, that's something I hadn't thought of.' I don't think there is anywhere else in Australia that's like that at the moment; the amount of enthusiasm for making really intense, playful but very focused wines that is happening here." Each has helped shape Jasper's philosophy: Anton van Klopper, James Erskine, Taras Ochota, Brendon Keys, Gareth Belton, Tom Shobbrook. This is not a solo project; it is a collective endeavour, a commune in the truest sense.
Jasper lives on the property with his partner Emma Sadie Thomson — Adelaide's go-to plant expert and stylist — and their daughter Frances. The family occupies one of three houses on the 60-acre property; Jasper's parents and sister Sophie live in the others. The kitchen is the heart of the home, with beautiful windows overlooking the vineyards. Ladderax shelves hold pottery from travels to Japan. The house is surrounded by trees, bushland and grapevines, with "greenery views from every window." This is not a winery with a house attached; it is a home with a winery woven into its fabric.
"Natural wine is finding a place very quickly through many folks because it makes sense. It's about letting the fruit speak for itself, not the winemaker speaking for the fruit. It makes discussion about what's in the glass more accessible and therefore more interesting to a wider bunch of people, because fruit speaks to anyone!"
— Jasper Button
The Commune of Buttons Range
Commune of Buttons produces a focused range of site-expressive wines, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at the core. Jasper makes up to five iterations of Chardonnay in a given vintage, depending on what the season provides. The wines have evolved from early, juicy, whole-bunch experiments to precise, textured, terroir-driven expressions. All are made with minimal intervention: wild yeast, gravity bottling, no filtration, no fining, and sulphur only when necessary (never exceeding 20 ppm). The result is vibrant, delicious wine that speaks of site above all else.