First Drop
Matt ‘Gantos’ Gant and John ‘JR’ Retsas are two mates with a lifelong commitment to making kick-arse booze. These are wines with flavour, texture and a splash of funk, made with the best fruit from unique patches of the Barossa, Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale.
This wine demonstrates the perfect marriage of these two Piedmontese varieties – the fruit and acidity of Barbera melds perfectly with the savoury character and structure of Nebbiolo. Although it’s an approachable style from a single vineyard near Kersbrook in the northern Adelaide Hills (340m above sea level on complex sandy clay loams over shale), it’s also serious kit!
Co l o u r
Medium brick red
B o u q u e t
A pungent, intricate nose of nutmeg and cloves, layered with cherry fruit and hints of cordite and cola
Pa l a t e
A beautifully balanced palate. The cherry spice and dark chocolate of the Barbera melds perfectly with the elegant leathery structure of the Nebbiolo
Gr u b M a t c h
Porcini mushroom risotto; smoked tea duck; cured pork sausage
Ce l l a r i n g
Drink up, but also an 8-10 year proposition
V i n t a g e
A challenging year followed by the mother of all vintages. No sugar coating. It was tough. An emotional rollercaster. Nevertheless we’ve triumphed and produced some of our most interesting wines to date. A cool wet winter was followed by warmer and drier conditions through October and November which led to strong and healthy shoot growth, but a wet December kicked off our first battle – Downy Mildew. A cool summer with some more frequent thunderstorm weather events in February and March brought our next battle – Botrytis. But the vigilance of our band of grapegrowing brothers meant that we were able to employ more intensive canopy management (shoot thinning/regular trimming) and to selective hand pick, and then hand sort in the winery, to minimize the impact. We love our growers! So for all the talk about the impact of rain, it’s really the cool conditions that define the wines we’ve produced this year. Wines with expressive varietal character, purity and balance. Advance Euralia fair!
V i n e y a r d
Caj’s vineyard is near Kersbrook in the northern Adelaide Hills - 340m above sea level on complex sandy clay loams over shale
V i n i f i c a t i o n
The Nebbiolo is crushed/destemed and fermented at temperatures ranging from 20- 25°C for 6 days on skins. The Barbera is destemed only and fermented at similar temperatures for 8 days on skins. The ferments are managed by a variety of techniques, including ‘aerative pump overs’ and ‘drain and returns’ which assist in extracting colour, flavour and tannin from the grapes. At the end of fermentation both parcels are drained/pressed, and transfered to 3 and 4 year old French oak hogsheads to undergo MLF. Post MLF, sulphur dioxide is added, and the wines mature sur lie for 18 months. Assemblage takes place at the end of this maturation period. This wine was bottled in November 2012.
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