Aussie Awesomesauce
Throw another turkey on the barbie, pin back thy lugs ye figjams and mollydookers cos we’re stoked to announce some serious new true blue grog as we swiftly decant our latest odds and sods from Down Under.
Anton van Klopper AKA Domaine Lucci has vineyards in the Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills and buys grapes from friendly growers. 2015 transpired not to be a vintage for whites, but it did yield the raw materials for 50 shades of… vin gris. Despite the mad professor act, these are sane and rational wines. ‘Gris Blanc’ is saignée Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc in ceramic egg and 500-litre oak, whilst ‘Gris Gris’ Pinot Gris (pay attention, I shall ask questions later) is a saignée of Pinot Gris – purely in egg. ‘Pinot Gris Chardonnay’ is another variation on a roseate theme – ceramic and oak for this wine. The fuchsia’s bright, the fuchsia’s coral. ‘Lucci Sauvignon Blanc’, meanwhile, has a brief skin contact, whole bunches, skins-y crunchiness, whilst the craziness is cosmically – one might say comically – ramped up on the ‘Wildman Blanc’. Here be Sauvignon Blanc on skins let loose to go wild-style in open barrels with nowt added. A flor forms like a crust on the cassoulet and is broken once. Two Pinot Noirs this year – ‘Noir de Florette’ – a juicy blend of all Pinot vineyards and the Wildman Pinot, all earthy-smoky gravy essence with iron in its wild soul.