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- Method Ancestral - Naturel Fermentation - Barossa Valley - Crouchen Riesling

Six Bottle Case $210 | Dozen Price $399

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Production:

Riesling From our House On The Hill 'Dam Block' Vineyard. Crouchen from the 'Fencline Row' of our Stonewell Hill Vineyard
340 Bottles Hand Filled and 'Shed Fermented'

Colour:

Very Bright pale straw with hints of pale apple green.

Nose:

Fleshy ripe Nashi Pear over yeasty brioche bun all comfortably resting on a subtle cashew nut underlay

Palate:

Spritzy & textural full palate. It balances the richness and excitement of fleshy, slightly residual sweet fruit against the drying grip of gentle tannins and developing dryness. A true work in progress, these observations made at the start of September 2023, are probably going to be redundant by the time you're reading this as the 'Pet Nat' slowly finishes fermenting its way to dryness.

Philosophy:

I love having a crack at different ways of making wine. To be honest, coming at this whole winemaking thing at an oblique angle is my default position. Generally, what happens, is I taste, hear about, or read something that gets me thinking and then like an irresistible itch, I just gotta have a go. Pétillant Naturel or Method Ancestral is the original way that sparkling wines were made. I presume they came about when someone had a bit of a reluctant ferment and a deadline for delivery to meet. Having played the claymore wine bottle game more than once over my career (the first Golden Scrumpy leaps to mind) I can only guess how exciting that early discovery must have been. Presumably, the development of pressure capable bottles happened around this time too. But I digress! I arrived at the decision to have a crack at a Pet Nat a couple of years ago, crafting some orphan Riesling and Crouchen into what I’m proud to say wasn’t a bad drop at all. Round 3 in 2023 was back to this winning combination after missing the boat in 2022. Crouchen and Riesling were gently pressed and the free-run and light pressings filled to an old French Hogshead. I let it kick off naturally, then popped the barrel into the cold room to ferment low and slow until just the remnants of fermentable sugars remained. After cold settling, we racked and bottled as clear as possible, so low yeast loading would result in a benign (and gently fizzy) Method Ancestral ‘Pet Nat’. As we release, fermentation is still underway and right now it’s rich, a little sweet and an irresistibly delicious glass of funckilicious fun!


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