Imagine telling your family back home in Borneo that after moving to Australia to study accounting at the University of Adelaide, you met the love of your life studying wine. That’s how Purple Soul Wines began.
For Jamison Lim, it was never part of the plan. He arrived from Malaysia in 2005 with numbers on his mind, not vintages. Then he met Jenny, a bright and determined wine business student from China.
“We met at uni,” Jamison says with a grin. “She loved wine. I loved her. So of course, it all began there.”
Fate added its own twist. Jenny’s family village in China turned out to be the same as Jamison’s grandfather’s. “We didn’t even know until we started sharing family stories,” he says. “It was like something bigger was guiding us.”
Jamison’s family still live in Borneo, an island known for its misty jungles, wild coastlines and orangutans swinging through ancient rainforest. It’s a world away from the rolling vineyards of South Australia, where rows of Chardonnay vines climb gentle slopes and kangaroos laze beneath gum trees. But somehow, Jamison found his place here.
He and Jenny built a life in Adelaide, raising their young family while exploring the wine regions that now inspire their craft.
“We travelled everywhere,” he says.
“We visited vineyards across South Australia, then went to France, Italy, Chile and beyond. Everywhere we went, we learnt something new. Wine connects people. It’s culture.”
Those early years were full of long drives, late-night tastings and countless cellar doors. The couple immersed themselves in the industry, not as investors or inheritors but as outsiders driven by passion.
“We didn’t come from a winemaking family,” Jamison says. “We started from zero. But we knew what we loved. Art, food, wine and people. That’s what built Purple Soul.”
By 2018, they decided to create their own label. What began as a dream to honour grape growers and their legacies soon took shape in the hills of South Australia.
From their first 1,000 cases of Shiraz in 2019, Purple Soul has grown into a label built on love, risk and soulful devotion, with grapes sourced from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills.
They called it Purple Soul. “Purple is the colour that stains your hands when you crush grapes,” Jamison says. “It’s in your veins. Once it’s there, it never leaves.”
Until now, Purple Soul Wines has been one of Adelaide’s best-kept secrets. The label is whispered about by wine lovers for its French-style Chardonnay and a Barossa Grenache that drinks like Burgundy.
This November, Jamison and Jenny will bring their poetic wines out for you to try at three Adelaide tastings. On Sunday, November 23, Purple Soul will showcase its full collection at The Adelaide Wine Festival at Morphettville Racecourse. Then, on Thursday, November 27 from 3pm to 6pm, the wines will be poured in the Atrium Lounge Bar at the InterContinental Hotel on North Terrace. Then they will be at the Cellar Door Wine Festival at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 30 January to 1 February 2026.
“We want people to try it from our hands,” Jamison says. “You can feel the difference when we’re pouring the wine and telling our story.”
The Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, Sphere of Uranus, reflects Jamison’s love of French craftsmanship. “I’ve always been drawn to the great Chardonnays of Meursault,” he says.
“Their richness, their texture, that nutty almond note and minerality. The French wines showed me what Chardonnay can do when you give it time and silence.”
The Barossa Grenache, Harp of Gaea, drinks more like Pinot, while the McLaren Vale Shiraz, Anchor of Oceanus, is unapologetically bold.
“It’s traditional,” Jamison says. “It has weight, tannin and power. It’s a little old-school, and I love that.”
Purple Soul may be small, but it’s full of heart.
“We make wines to move people,” Jamison says.
“You don’t drink them to impress anyone. You drink them because they make you feel something. That’s the whole point.”
Purple Soul Wines
When: Sunday, November 23, The Adelaide Wine Festival at Morphettville Racecourse
Thursday, November 27 from 3pm to 6pm, Atrium Lounge Bar at the InterContinental Hotel, North Terrace.
Cellar Door Wine Festival at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 30 January to 1 February 2026.
For more information, click here.
More News
