Tasted this once as a younger wine and “let it through to the keeper”. Fared better this time round. A couple of questions remained though. With all this winemaker input is it a touch ‘contrived’ and secondly, do those techniques obscure terroir and regionality? Not sure I have the answers…
100% Barrel ferment using a combination of wild and wacky yeasts, battonage, 50% underwent malolactic. Effusive basil and boiled cabbage with underlying fruit salad and gravel on the nose. Texturally layered, with a creamy surface blanketing a steely, acidic core. The finish is phenolic and dry with an emphasis on herbs, but not the pungent ones that you’d find in a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. No cat’s piss either. This is more Pouilly-Fumé if you’ll let me make crass comparisons. Likely to polarise but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Good
Region: Adelaide Hills
Alcohol: 11.2%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $24
Tasted: July 2012