When art and science combine, great things are made
The best winemakers are artists who acknowledge that chemistry deserves respect. Dr Wes Pearson is one of them.
The next time someone rolls out the old line about winemaking being a blend of science and art I might just take a Bunsen burner to Blue Poles. But clichés are just truths dulled by overuse, and it can be useful to taste with a mind tuned to how the two disciplines have shaped the wine in your glass. I’ve had more than my share of wines that lean too heavily in one direction or the other. I’ve seen too many wines turn feral because a creative soul thought embracing “the vibe of the thing” was more than enough to get a delicious wine into bottle. (Trust me, it isn’t.) And I’ve seen wines rendered soulless because they were made on paper, a collection of numbers collected from distant vineyards and mashed into a recipe spat out by computers.
The best winemakers are artists who acknowledge that chemistry deserves respect, and scientists who realise the voluminous contents of their brains are nothing without the feel and touch of their hearts and hands. Dr Wes Pearson is one of them. By day he’s a senior scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute, with much of his current work focusing on how the production of low and no alcohol wines could deliver something better than the liquified existential dread the category offers now. But he has always made serious wine on the side. He recently bought out his partners in the Dodgy Bros label, a name that suggests he’s a better scientist than brand marketer, and he and his partner Cassie now put all their efforts into a label called Juxtaposed.
The wines, built on strong relationships with growers around McLaren Vale, speak strongly of clear thought and precise winemaking, but they also have a flourish to them – an artistic sensibility that lifts them to another level and ensures they linger in the memory.
When art and science are Juxtaposed, the combination is truly compelling.
JUXTAPOSED ‘LACEY’ FIANO 2023
$33
From a tiny crop off Ben Lacey’s Branson Road vineyard in the Tatachilla subregion. There’s a saline savouriness at play here, offset by the zip of pithy citrus. Some dry herb and green almond too. Lovely textural grit and grip. Like burlap softly pulled across the tongue. A fine, long, quartzy acidity.
12.2% alcohol, 95 points
JUXTAPOSED OLD VINE GRENACHE, 2022
$40
Coiled, muscular grenache. A broody bad boy leaning into structure, in contrast to some of the perfumed dandies that rely on the variety’s aromatic lift. Black cherry, ripe raspberry, some quandong pithiness. A soft, sweet meatiness like the very best jamon. Sculpted muscle, tightly textured, a layered progression of gritty, gently sappy tannins.
14.2% alcohol, 95 points
JUXTAPOSED WAIT VINEYARD ‘SANDY CORNER BLOCK’ SHIRAZ, 2022
$45
As the label declares, sourced from a corner of the Wait family vineyard composed entirely of the celebrated Blewitt Springs sands. A concerto written in bass notes. Black fruits, bitter chocolate, hung meat and rich dark earth. Wisps of smoke from a burning rosemary bush. Savoury and serious.
14.4% alcohol, 93 points