VINTAGE VERMOUTH, AROMATIC AND INTOXICATING

Vermouth, the name derived from the German ‘wermut’ for wormwood, was usually made to cover up some flawed wine. Add some aromatics and a bit of spirit and all is made right again.

I wanted to try it on the opposite spectrum, make the best white wine I could, source some premium herbs and spices and have a bash at it. So, this 2015 vintage, dry wermut is made from premium Marsanne, grown on the western ridge in the Barossa Valley. The wine is wild fermented and aged on lees for texture and body.

The organic herbs are infused into the wine base for around two weeks to fully extract aromas and flavours. After removing the botanicals, neutral spirit distilled from premium Barossa grapes is added. The wermut is aged for six months to mature before bottling without fining and filtration.

TECHNICAL STUFF

VINEYARD:

• Gomersal, Barossa Valley

• Red clay soils

• South East facing slope

WINEMAKING:

• Made as a conventional white wine, with ferment stopped with a small amount of sugar remaining

• Botanicals steeped in the wine for two weeks

• BOTANICALS USED:
  Wormwood, Juniper Berries, Rosehips, Lemon Peel, Lemon Myrtle Leaf, Chamomile Flowers, Dandelion Leaf, Angelica Root, Hibiscus Flowers, Ginger Root, Vanilla Pods, Jasmine Flowers, Hawthorn Berries, Allspice Berries

• Bottled unfined and unfiltered