Try These Australian Wines
The natural wine scene is Australia is amazing: look out for these wines!
On a recent trip to visit a friend in Australia, I was blown away by the low-intervention wines I encountered. Winemakers in Australia are creating magic! Letting their carefully harvested grapes ferment naturally, these winemakers are crafting fun, lively, young wines that taste like so much of the terroir and sunshine that helped create them. If you’re looking for some spring inspiration in the wine department, keep an eye out for these wines!
I’m starting off on a light note, with a pleasantly low ABV pet nat by Delinquente Wine Co. called Weeping Juan. Made out of a blend of two of my favorite Italian grapes, Vermentino and Nero D'Avola, I was destined to fall in love with this one, and I think you will too! Weeping Juan tastes like strawberry lemonade. Notes of watermelon, apple, and tart berries play on the palate. It’s fizzy and alive with a creamy note from the unfiltered yeast, giving it balance.
This wine is a great example of how alive low-intervention wines can feel. Delinquente Wine sources the grapes from a biodynamic vineyard: each grape variety is picked and fermented separately. When the sugar levels are just right, they are blended and bottled, allowing the last fermentation to finish in the bottle. This is how winemakers produce the Petillant Naturel style sparkling wine: during that second fermentation in the bottle the gasses that are released causes the wine to naturally carbonate. Australian winemakers are crafting some wildly beautiful pet nats, and this is the perfect entry level example for you to try. Serve it chilled on the patio with snacks!
If you’re looking for a crisp, clean white wine to drink on a warm day, Garagiste’s Grenache Blanc is perfect! Made of a single varietal—Grenache Blanc— this wine by winemaker Barnaby Flanders starts with carefully hand-picked grapes. Flanders uses a hands off yet attentive approach with his natural wines; the grapes are allowed to ferment without intervention. However, Flanders’ careful monitoring of the wine’s progress leads to high quality natty wines. The delicate tasting notes of the Northern Rhone white grape are carefully preserved in this wine and, they shine through in the clean, balanced wine. It tastes like flowers, apples, and pears with a hint of nuttiness and a bright lingering mineral finish.
This wine is simple and uncomplicated while being perfectly executed and full of refreshing tasting notes that linger on the palate. Garagiste’s Grenache Blanc is a great choice to pair with shellfish or salty snacks at happy hour.
The husband and wife natural winemaking duo behind Brave New Wine are crafting wildly interesting low-intervention wines. They’re made with quality grapes, unfiltered, and full of lively flavors. Maison Derriere is a light red wine made with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, a unique choice. It’s not everyday that you stumble across a wine that’s a blend of red and white grapes. Maison Derriere speaks to the level of creativity at Brave New Wine.
This fascinating light red tastes like berries, tart cherry, cranberries, blood orange. It’s tart and juicy with a hint of that barnyard funk that many natural wine lovers (myself included) find so endearing. Because it’s so light, this is a red wine that deserves a chill! Serve it chilled with dinner; it can hold its own alongside flavorful foods.
I had the pleasure of visiting Quealy on my trip, and I brought back this beautiful bottle of skin contact Malvasia, a grape that’s native to Greece. Quealy is a charming, unassuming winery on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. Driving up, we almost mistook it for someone’s kitchen garden: there were herbs and veggies growing everywhere, and the cellar door (or tasting room) was humble and honest. This spirit of honesty can be found in Quealy’s wines too!
Quealy takes great care in growing their own grapes and choosing where they source any additional grapes. They focus on low-intervention, quality grapes, and natural winemaking techniques to create beautifully balanced wines that burst with flavor. This Malvasia is a skin contact, or orange, wine that tastes like Meyer lemon, stone fruit, tropical fruits, and honey with a mineral finish and lots of structure. It’s an ideal orange wine if you ask me! Serve it chilled with an herby pasta dish or a cheese board.
I hope you get to pop open a bottle of Australian natural wine this month! It’s sure to be a treat, and if you try one of these wines I suggested let me know what you think. Cheers!