2019 Peaches - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Gris - 12.4% alc
The quality of the fruit led us to ferment in whole bunches and hand de-stem over a wooden frame we built many years ago. Each berry is popped off as a whole, creating a delicate carbonic fermentation inside. We believe this process captures the pure essence of the grape and its colour. This wine is a collective ferment of most of the white grapes we grow. Chardonnay, Pinot Gris & Sauvignon Blanc with a little dash of Savagnin. The texture is velvety and succulent like a peach - delicious! The cloudiness of the wine is due to no filtration, the wine having energy and life inside. Give the bottle a little movement (like a snow dome) and store upright - ideally in the fridge. Open and enjoy with some well grown and true organic food! Take the time to dance, smile, eat and enjoy this wine.
Artwork by the beautiful Léa Bru, who drew this while with us during the 2018 harvest.
2019 Cuvée Selene - Pinot Gris Sauvignon Blanc - 12.4% ALC
Fermented in large handmade terracotta ‘Huevos’ - an egg shaped fermenter that we store the grapes in for 6 months. Pressed lightly in the heart of winter after the solstice. Once the lid was removed we discovered the whole bunches were still in such pristine condition. Fermentation was very delicate and the berries still whole, pure and full of life. The longer maceration luring in the chalky tannins, creating texture to awaken the taste buds. With its soft fermentation and time in bottle, the fruit is beaming with light and brightness. Selene is the Greek Goddess of the moon. Apt, as we spend much of our farming, growing and living life with focus and respect to this glowing orb and the ancient peoples who worked with the Moon in the movements of their life. Our inspiration coming from the ancient island of Ithaki in the Ionian Sea, the first place to see the sun rise and set daily; Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) in Aotearoa, and the spiritual and wise Peramangk Country in South Australia where we are based. This is a new cuvée from us, respectful to past traditions and a special one that we are enjoying very much. A wine for when the sun sets.
2019 Blush - Pinot Gris - 12.4% alc
Pinot Gris macerated on skins for a fortnight. This wine welcomes the sunshine with its luminous blush character. It has texture from maceration and a fruitfulness from the warm and dry 2019 vintage. Despite the heat of the season it has a piercing acidity - thanks to our 600m elevation, rocks and minerals, and cool mornings. This wine should be chilled and drunk after a hard day’s work….. or while sitting at the beach, or under the shade of a tree at the park. It is somewhere between a darker rosé or a light red wine. 2019 Blush is the last wine of this Blush style that we have made for the foreseeable future. At present, with our small yields, Pinot Gris will only make its way into Forest Red & Peaches. Blush is also a great wine to cellar for years to come, as its evolution is just beginning.
2019 High Paradise - Savagnin, Chardonnay & Garganega - 12% alc
High Paradise is a combination of early picked fruit, and a later pick of sun-ripened fruit - direct pressed and some whole bunch maceration. The structure of the fermentation presents itself like its season. It has striking acidity, with balance and structure, owing to the quartz stones beneath us. This wine is drinking beautifully now, but also one to have much longevity. Possibly our favourite and most well orchestrated image of High Paradise, capturing the vintage and its place. Drink this over a few days, if you can.High Paradise does not feature in the 2020 vintage. We, instead, took the journey with the high quality fruit to express Geoponika, which we are extremely happy with. This is another dimension of Savagnin & Chardonnay grown on Peramangk Country at 600m elevation, with the ancient rocks and minerals below, which the vines send their roots down deep in to reach for the cool moisture beneath. If you are one to enjoy High Paradise then we suggest to store a bottle for later - 7+ years.
2019 Wild Nature Ozone - Pinot Gris - 13% alc
The Wild Nature collection is lead by experiment and the willingness to see and feel those ‘what if’ elements in life. We do not prune, tend or tame these vines. They are left to their own orchestration, growing petite bunches and forming a wave-like canopy over the wires that remain in the vineyard, creating a wonderful umbrella on hot summer days for our Kangaroo mates. Not neglected, but left without the controlling touch of human hands, resulting in a truly unique and wild wine. Ozone is a carbonically fermented Pinot Gris. The whole bunches are placed in a stainless steal tank and the lid is sealed shut. Preventing any oxygen, light or outside influence to this wine. We do not open this lid to do pump overs or use any gas in this process. The natural yeasts present on the berries create a very healthy fermentation and we are left unknown to what goes on below the lid trusting the process… until we open and smell after 35+ days. The fermenting juice is then gently extracted using our basket press and bucketed into aged oak barrels - where it is re-introduced to oxygen. It is left in barrel to develop and bottled later in spring. We leave the description of this wine to you as it presents itself is so many ways, styles, motions and emotions and is forever evolving. It is wild, interesting, tantalising and a wine to keep the true lovers loving and we hope interested! On opening this wine let it have a chance to take a breath in your glass. Please do not shake the sh*t out of the wine or decant with vigour - treat it with delicacy. Enjoy from a chilled temperature and allow to blossom. Ozone, like most of our wines, complements food well.
2018 Eleusis Noir - Pinot Noir - 12.8% alc
Rich soils with a backbone of red clay over Schist. 25 year old vines. From the 2018 vintage, this one barrel cuvée of Pinot Noir (777 clone) is grown right outside the winery doors. This parcel has now become the pinot part of Farm Rosato in the years we have made this wine. 100% hand destemmed, presenting as bright red fruit on the nose before melting into richer and earthier tones on the palate, a result of the extended elevage. This wine is mineral driven and alive. It is in its prime at the moment. We recommend opening this amongst friends and consuming the bottle in one sitting. It is here for a good time not a long time.
Eleusis is dedicated to change, evolution and mysticism - an homage to the Eleusinian mysteries, which were the worlds longest running agriculture sect, connected to the worship of the Greek Goddess Demeter - Queen of the harvest.
2019 Pino Nori - Pinot Noir - 13% alc
Red clay and schist soils from 30 year old vines. Nine months in aged barrels, two full lunar cycles in tank, followed by two journeys around the sun in bottle. Originally two cuvees from separate parcels - Pino and Pinot Nori. In 2019, the two have been unified, and we introduce you to Pino Nori, beaming with blueberry and raspberry notes. This wine is electric, precise, and drinking very well now, but would readily age for another year or two, softening the berry acidity and opening the way for deeper, more complex savoury notes.
2019 Yellow - Chardonnay 20%, Sauvignon Blanc 50% & Pinot Gris 30% - 13% alc
Red clay over schist with a predominance of Iron Stone Quartz. All from 30+ year old vines. Jumped on and macerated over night, then pressed in the morning to large oak barrels. One sun cycle in barrel, three lunar cycles in tank. A year and half in bottle. We think Yellow is one of the most interesting and complex wines we ever have released at Manon Farm. It opens with searing brightness and acidity and then slowly unfurls with honeyed aromas and luscious texture, before finally presenting a delicious nuttiness once the wine has fully embraced the air. A luminous wine that should be pondered and reflected upon as it undergoes its evolution from opening to finishing the bottle. A new wine for us and one that has come about in its own light and journey from the fantastic 2019 vintage.
2020 Aura - Pinot Noir Rosato - 12% alc
Red clay over schist. East facing terrace of 30 year old vines. Aura, a tribute to the wind Goddess, who greets us most days on our high ridge. Three day maceration on skins. Our only single barrel cuvee of red from the small, but excellent 2020 harvest. This is joyful, fresh and quaffable. Enjoy! We recommend keeping a bottle handy for the warmer days to come.
2020 Juno - Chardonnay 40% & Sauvignon Blanc 60 % - 12% alc
Red clay over schist with a predominance of iron stone quartz. 30+ year old vines. These vines cascade down the steep slope out the back of the winery. We start in the rows of Sauvignon Blanc and pick our way right across to the rows of Chardonnay. The grapes are brought 20 steps back to the cellar, foot stomped and macerated on their stems and skins overnight. Then, the following morning, we gently press over the course of a day, to clay amphora where it remains until bottling. Juno is a soft and pretty wine, owing much to the influence of the clay during elevage. It is vibrant and floral, evolving with some time in the glass.
2020 APQ Cider 8% alc
APQ is our Apple, Pear & Quince cider. Created as Autumn takes hold and the grape harvest comes to an end. This year, due to biannual fruiting of pears, this cider has a larger proportion of pear ( 30%) from a stunning 80 year old pear orchard just down the road, with less quince than previous years. This results in a less floral cider, but one with more body and a velvety texture. The base is the usual mixture of certified organic apples from the Schulz family of Forest Range and wild quince collected from around our neighbourhood. Apples, pears and quince pulped, macerated for a day, and then pressed through Summer meadow hay cut from our farm. 2020 APQ has an element of its fermentation in clay amphora along with old French oak barrels. Bottled as a Pet Nat with a further year of slow fermentation in bottle. A thirst quenching delight for the wild and savoury lovers . A fruity combination and a refreshing drink when seeking something lower in alcohol and higher in life. Like our wine, this cider remains raw and living.
2020 FOREST ORCHARDS CIDER - Apples & Pears 8% alc
Forest Orchards cider has been grown and pressed by Fiona and Graeme Shultz who we purchase a selection of apples from that go in as an element of APQ. Fiona & Graeme are very wise and wonderful organic farmers filled with knowledge. They grow the most delicious fruits, berries and vegetables. Forest Orchards Apples have been supplying organic whole food stores for 30 or so years. Grahame arrived at the cellar one day with a tank of delicious juice on the back of his Brumby. Will you make this into cider and see what it is like? He asked. Yes, sure we replied. Apples and Pears pressed in the Shultzs juice machine. An ever so slightly sweeter style than APQ. Incredibly refreshing. Nothing nifty has been done. Juice to tank, tank to bottle when the sugars were correct for bottling and then bottled in the deep of winter, followed by a further 1 and 1/2 years fermenting in bottle in the cellar waiting their bubbly transformation. Now delicious for you to enjoy.
2020 TABLE RED #3 - Pinot Noir & Pinot Gris. 11.8% alc
In 2020 we met a great flock of Kangaroos who came to live with us after the bushfire took their habitat away. This table wine is what would have been Farm Rosato, Blush, Forest Red and Nori. Table Red #3 a wine for the table and the people. This wine is a cosmic combo of bight cherries from the Forest Red, sweet and fruity tones of Rosato and the savoury texture from the Pinot Gris that was Blush. Drink this wine for a good time, not a longtime.
2020 GEOPONIKA - Savagnin 55% & Chardonnay 45%
The return of Geoponika—the first since 2017! Made in the years when there is a true delicacy to the season, as opposed to High Paradise which is the riper, macerated version of Geoponika. Both the Chardonnay and Savagnin components come from the most electric/mineral/expressive sections of their vineyards. Red clay over schist with a predominance of iron stone quartz sings to this wine. Allow to open and evolve to welcome the complexity of this wine.
2021 MARMAKA - Chardonnay 11.3 % alc
Our first single barrel of Chardonnay. It has taken some years for this vineyard to find a stride that motivates us to create a single-varietal wine. With the finest work from chickens, herbal preparations, good pruning and vine work, this block has begun to tell a new story. Also home to the Chardonnay component of Geoponika and on the alternative years, High Paradise. The 30+ year old vines cascade down a steep slope and inject their roots into red clay over old weathered schist with a predominance of iron stone quartz. East facing and sheltered by Native and Pine forest, allowing only mid day light for a very fine structure. Our direct press is stomped by feet and left to macerate over night, pressed the following morning, fermented in barrel and left to settle in bottle.
2021 PEACHEs -Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Savagnin 11%alc
This wine is a field blend, a collective ferment of most of the white grapes we grow. Chardonnay, Pinot Gris & Sauvignon Blanc with a little dash of Savagnin macerated together in tank for about ten days. Each variety adding its own texture and component to this wine. The texture is velvety and succulent like a peach—delicious! Drink over a few days if you like.
2021 FOREST RED - Pinot Noir & Pinot Gris 11% alc
A 50/50 mix of both fruits. The fermentation was simple—Pinot Gris berries floating in Pinot Noir juice for a shortish maceration together. Moved manually and mindfully into aged barrels before bottling in early-mid spring. This results in a bright and joyful wine, that for us is the essence of a mountain top red.
2021 Farm Rosato - Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Merlot 11.7% alc
Farm Rosato is a cuvée from our farm that has always felt so right for us. We have never had a year where we have not been impressed by how it has become. No vintage will ever be the same but generally it is all the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot that we can gather on the farm, all held in balance by Pinot Noir juice - the Pinot giving a big round fruity hug to the more austere, delicate and perfume notes of the others. This 2021 Rosato is bright with a pleasant alpine structure and prefect for this change of season we glide into.
The 2021 harvest was a wonderful harvest as the drought had broken and our rain-fed vines soaked up some much needed water. The pruning and soil care that we have been improving over the years is responding in a very positive way, showing in the quality of fruit that we ferment. Creating more delicious and luscious bunches, allowing the roots of dig down and soak into the mineral structure below. Creating wines that speak for themselves of place and season.
