In a rash act of complete commercial recklessness I decided to hold the 2017 Pét-Nats back for a mid-summer (in Australia) release this year, as I’ve always thought they don’t really hit their straps until twelve months after harvest. As a consequence the wines were released in February 2018, and demand has been nothing short of phenomenal, with the consequence… Read more →
***STOP PRESS**** As of April 4th 2017 the 2016 Astro Bunny is officially SOLD OUT. As of June 19th 2017 the 2016 Dark Side is officially SOLD OUT. That’s all folks! Until the 2017’s are ready…. Blackhearts & Sparrows stores in Melbourne may have availability of the Astro Bunny, and you can also try Different Drop or DRNKS online.… Read more →
Fusée à Bulles has been described as looking and tasting like a Bellini, “quite good” and “not shit”. A blend of Nero d’Avola, Vermentino and Zibbibo, it’s a potable beverage, made from Australian grapes and mostly harmless. The Dark Side is almost certainly illegal, low in sulphur, high in midichlorians… Read more →
So I’d shot my big mouth off, it was too late now, I had to make a wine. The initial plan was to see if I could make a wine that could be picked, pressed, fermented, bottled and sold before I got back on a plane to the UK on May 1st. The second consideration was something more theoretical, perhaps… Read more →
Pet Nat is – theoretically at least – one of the simplest styles of wines to make. Pick – press – ferment – bottle – voilá. One of the features of Pet Nat is that it requires no additions of sulphur dioxide due to the fact that as the wine is constantly fermenting up to and including the point at… Read more →
I’ve learnt many things making this wine, but the three most striking are: 1. Making your own wine – from grape to bottle – is a fundamentally different process than working a vintage at a winery. When working vintage you get given a number of tasks to perform, repetitively, and you never really get to see the bigger picture, or take… Read more →
There’s an old wine trade adage that the effort of the industry is split between 5% making it and 95% getting it to the customer. If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If a deluded English guy thinks he can make wine, if it doesn’t sell it, has he made… Read more →