Wines that beg for picnics and balmy nights
A long weekend is upon us. Get some sun on those pins and a refreshing splash of something special in your glass. These wines beg for picnics, sandy shores, and balmy nights.
delicious SA
Don't miss out on the headlines from delicious SA. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A long weekend is upon us. Get some sun on those pins and a refreshing splash of something special in your glass. These wines beg for picnics, sandy shores, balmy nights and wild parties.
GOLDEN CHILD
2019 / Island Life Fumé Blanc
Adelaide Hills
Winemaker James Hamilton works with fruit grown by his dad up in beautiful Kuitpo and he’s done the old man (and his hand-pickedsauvignon blanc) proud with this perky number. It was whole bunch pressed directly to oak barrels, natural yeast fermentedand kept on full lees for five month. That means texture, baby. It’s a crisp citrus banger that delivers waves of peach andapricot flavours. Drink at Port Willunga beach as the sun caresses the cliffs.
$25
SOMOS
2019 / Naranjito
McLaren Vale
The verdelho in this edgy little punk was farmed biodynamically and plucked from a small vineyard in McLaren Flat. It’s orange,like Nemo, unfined, unfiltered and cloudy – go on, embrace it. For the technical jargon inclined, the fruit was destemmedand fermented on skins (half was pressed to old oak after a month and lees stirred fortnightly, and half was sealed on skinsfor 180 days). All you really need to know is it’s a mosh pit of ginger snap, stewed pears, Yo-Yo biscuit and caramel flavours.A memorable drop that refuses to be ignored. The label design by Light+Dark Creative Studio is a head-turner, too.
$27
VHS WINES
VHS Unicorn Club #3 – Creaming Soda
McLaren Vale
Winemaker and all round disrupter of the norm Samuel J Smith is one of the most exciting winemakers out there at the moment. the creative cat has a thing for molecular oenology and his latest small batch release smells and tastes like creaming soda. Think hints of lemon, orange and redcurrants. It’s made with a blend of Greco and Gewurztraminer and is refreshing, unusual, and playful. Find it on the VHS website (vhswines.com.au). If there’s a wine that takes you back to childhood, this is it.
$30
LATTA VINO
2019 / Tranquil
Pyrenees
It’s a rosé but not as you necessarily know it. Victorian winemaker Owen Latta isn’t afraid to walk the avant garde tightropeand this blend of nebbiolo (70 per cent) and sangiovese is no exception. The apricot haze plays tricks on the eyes, and onthe palate it delivers tart apricot, cranberries and spice. It’s unfined, unfiltered, textural and has more sass than Beyonce and Jay-Z’s love child.
$32
SIGURD
2018 / Sigurd White Blend
Barossa Valley
Winemaker Dan Graham makes minimal intervention wines using natural yeasts, and prefers to take the no fining, zero additionsapproach. He’s a talented bloke. When this blend of riesling, sauvignon blanc, semillon, vermentino and gewurztraminer hit the table over a long lunch recently, it silenced the rowdy crowd for all the right reasons. It delivers an aromatic explosionof apple, guava and pineapple. It’s tart, textural, tickles the senses and leaves you wanting more. Carmen Miranda’s headpiecein a glass. Wow.
$35
THE STOKE WINES
2019 / Pétillant Naturel
McLaren Vale, Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island
If bubbles, bathers, beach towels and fish ’n’ chips are your thing, there’s no better pairing this summer. Slip, slop, slap,then plonk yourself on the sand with a bottle or two of this savoury devil in hand. Nick and Rebecca Dugmore have createda beautifully executed pét nat: crisp, refreshing and full of strawberry, watermelon, pomegranate and lemon flavours. The colour of Elmo and dangerously easy drinking.
$35
WHISTLER WINES
2019 / Back To Basics Skin Contact White
Barossa Valley
Winemaker Josh Pfeiffer got his Pro Hart on with this eccentric medley. He splashed semillon, riesling, pinot blanc and whitefrontignac about with what looked like erratic abandon but which emerged as a masterpiece. It was fermented on skins (thewhite frontignac was fermented as whole bunches) and the result is complex, layered, and a little bit confronting. It’s anatural wine (no sulphur, no fining agents, no yeast and no added preservatives), so guzzle it now and embrace the sediment and orange haze.
$37