bunch wines
2023 Vintage Release
Sebbiolo 3 and 4
Harvested 23/4/23
$35
These wines are non-identical twins made from two parcels of the Sharefarmers Block Nebbiolo harvested late in the growing season. The difference between the wines comes from a Saignée process where half of the liquid was drained off during fermentation creating two wines with different concentrations of colour and tannin extracted from the skins.
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Sebbiolo 3 is the portion of wine that was drained around halfway through the fermentation. This Nebbiolo is my attempt to emulate styles found in the Valtellina region of Italy, near Lake Como. The wines produced in Valtellina contrast from Italy’s most famous Nebbiolo regions Barolo and Barbaresco because of their lighter and fresher styles.
My friend Ali introduced me to Valtellina Nebbiolo so it was only fitting that he helped me make this wine. He came to the vineyard shed (winery) at dusk to find me faffing about and quickly got me organised. I remember I was trying to decide whether to stick to my original idea of making two different styles of Nebbiolo (dark vs light) and he wisely counselled me to make the wines that I was passionate about. This is a winemaking lesson that has stuck with me; before harvest have an idea of what you want to make, change the details and techniques according to the environmental conditions that dictate the ripening process but stay true to the original style you want to make.
The wine itself is a clear and bright brick red with delicate rose and umami characteristics but still retains structured Nebbiolo tannin. The label is a loose oil painting that is reflective of Nebbiolo’s traditional rose aroma’s and flavours. This is sacrilegious to say but I drink this wine with an ice cube. 12.5% abv, 246 bottles produced
Sebbiolo 4 is way more serious and darker, with aromas of black olives, tobacco and truffle coupled with iconic Nebbiolo tannin and acid that is best suited when eating fatty foods especially lamb. This is a wine with attitude; hence the label. Because of the intense tannin structure this wine has more aging potential the Sebbiolo 3 and I’m interested to see how it develops in bottle. 12.5% abv, 276 bottles produced
Problem Child Shiraz
Harvested 13/4/23
$35
This was the first wine harvested in Vintage 2023, handpicked with the help of one of my growers, Sally Macleod. 500kg picked from a Coonawarra vineyard, it is a medium bodied, savoury and a slightly vegetative red, with hints of vanilla American oak characters. It is affectionately known as the Problem Child because it was the only wild ferment of Vintage 2023 and went through a couple of awkward stages that caused me great consternation. In the end it is a bit of crowd favourite and holds a soft spot for me because of everything it taught me about wine making. The label is a painting of Sally picking grapes in the vineyard and is a part of my attempt to learn how to paint fabric. 13.5% abv, 300 bottles produced.
Wirrungulla Cabernet Sauvignon
Harvested 24/4/23
$35
Made from the home block of the MacLeod’s vineyards in the Coonawarra, this Cabernet Sauvignon is made from an extremely special vineyard planted in the early 1990s. The label is the view of the vineyard from the living room of Buster and Sally’s home. The Guinea Fowl live out the back in real life but Buster and myself often talked about letting them loose in the vineyard to eat the snails.
These grapes often make their way into the St Hugo Cabernet but because of the difficult growing season I managed to snag 500kg. Again, the cooler weather from Vintage 2023 means this wine is of medium weight and more savoury. It shows the typical choc mint of Coonawarra Cabernet with deep spice notes and a hint of dusty oak. These grapes were picked by family and friends and hand destemmed late into the night. 14% abv, 300 bottles produced.
Sebbiolo Reserve
Sebbiolo 2, 24 months in barrel, 1 year in bottle
$40
Made from the same wine as Sebbiolo 2, from the Sharefarmers Block Vineyard, this is a barrel reserve which has seen a further 12 months in old oak barrels, for a total barrel age of 24 months. Extended barrel age is a common practice used for Nebbiolo as the oxidation process softens the tannin structure and develops tertiary characters such as tar, dehydrated fruits and (hopefully) truffles.
Stylistically this wine was made in the image of Barolo wines which see significant barrel and bottle age before release. I also used my original label from 2022 but have transferred a dusk photograph I took while making wine in 2023 onto the oil paintings of the Sharefarmers Block vineyard. It’s a darker label which hints at the more developed nature of the wine. 13.5% abv, 294 bottles produced.
2022 Vintage Release
