The Bunny Goes Global for the first time in 2019 with the 2018 vintage wines bouncing all over the globe to seven (seven!) new export markets: Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Denmark, Canada, US and UK. First stops on the world tour to support my new partners were Singapore and Hong Kong, both 100% Spinal Tap 🙂
The 2019 vintage saw us entirely change the three vineyards we use for the Astro Bunny, and to mark the occasion we’ve refreshed the label to launch our beloved Bunny into space, where she belongs! The reasons for the vineyard changes were quality, quality, quality. We’ve moved to a stunning new premium vineyard in McLaren Vale for the Nero d’Avola (25%) owned by legendary viticulturist Sue Trott, to an immaculately managed 60 year old Zibibbo vineyard in the Loxton region of The Riverland called “Gums and Roses” and what was previously Vermentino is now Fiano from a vineyard specialising in Italian varieties in the cool climate Adelaide Hills. All the fruit was hand harvested between the 6th and 8th March, the Zibibbo was given 24 pre-ferment skin contact to extract greater aromatics, the Nero was taken from the press after just a few hours to provide colour and the three varieties were then co-fermented together. The wine was bottled with 12 g/lt residual sugar and fermented fully dry over the winter, resulting in a final pressure of 3 bar.
Like a vinous Doctor Who the wine that was previously known as Heavy Pétting and before that the Dark Side has regenerated into a new name and label. Introducing Piggy Pop!
New vineyard, new label. We’ve decided to double down on the fun this year and turn our red pét-nat into a fruit driven ruby coloured rosé pét-nat, with a new name and a new fruit source. We’ve moved to a premium vineyard in McLaren Vale owned by renowned viticulturist Sue Trott for our new source of Nero d’Avola. Meticulous viticulture and a stunning vineyard location in the McLaren Flat sub-region of McLaren Vale has allowed us to step up the fruit quality this year and it really shows in the bottle, with the Nero character and fruit power really popping out of the glass – hence Piggy POP!
Eight tonnes of Nero d’Avola was hand harvested on Friday 8th March and transferred directly to the Lodestone winery in the neighbouring Adelaide Hills. A small proportion was set aside for the Astro Bunny, whilst the rest was fermented with 25% whole bunch for just four days week before being pressed off skins to achieve the lighter ruby red colour. The intense power of the fruit allowed us to carry out a shorter skin maceration time whilst achieving even greater fruit intensity in the final wine – that’s the secret behind the Piggy! The wine was bottled with approximately 12 g/lt residual sugar and fermented dry over the winter, resulting in a final pressure of 3 bar.
