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ACellars Newsletter 14th July, 2022 -Domaine Tempier + Mada Wine Tasting this Saturday + Scintilla Wine Tasting Wednesday!

by Annandale Cellars

In-Store Tasting:

Mada Wines

This Saturday July 16th

3pm - 6pm

Hamish Young and Nick Spencer worked a "Long Road" together, with almost a decade at Eden Road Wines of Murrumbateman. The time making wine at Eden Road flamed their respective passions for the Canberra District and regional NSW vines, before they each set off on their own paths: Nick along the road to Gundagai, and Hamish "celebrating origin" across Canberra, Hilltops and Tumbarumba.

Hamish established MADA Wines in 2015 to really go his own way, with a minimal intervention approach to showcase the cool-climate freshness of the varietals he bottles. Working with likeminded growers who share his passion for the region, Hamish believes "good people grow good fruit", and he plays around with whole bunches, a little skin-contact and fermentation in ceramic eggs. MADA Wines are bright and savoury, approachable but with nuanced complexity, all with balance in their acidic line of the cool capital.

Join us in-store this Saturday afternoon as we pour:

- MADA Riesling

- MADA Pinot Gris

- MADA Chardonnay

- MADA Rouge

- MADA Shiraz

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Domaine Tempier

A visit to cult wine legends Domaine Tempier really solidified what ‘terroir’ is all about. As you enter the vineyard you’re surrounded by wild flowers, lavender, and rosemary and thyme in a natural abundance that can only be explained through a glass of their wine. The family owned and operated biodynamic estate situated in Bandol on its clay-limestone soils is a benchmark of good wine in the region . - Chris L

Bandol Rosé, like revenge, is best served cold; in Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, the titular character would enjoy a glass of Bandol rosé served "bien frais" (chilled) when plotting his revenge on those whom had him wrongfully imprisoned, once he found his freedom.

And what Bandol rosé could be more iconic to celebrate freedom or Liberté today on this Fête Nacionale Français (Bastille Day) than the famed rosé, fresh yet complex and age-worthy, of Domaine Tempier?

Lucie "Lulu" Tempier was gifted Domaine Tempier, the Provençal farm that had already been in the family for over a century, when she married viticulturist Lucien Peyraud in 1936. Lucien, on tasting a bottle of pre-phylloxera wine from the domaine (also a wedding gift), was inspired to research the terroir of Bandol, and its strong history with the sun-loving, drought-tolerant, Mediterranean-thriving Mouvèdre. Despite many of the old vines in the region being replanted with more lucrative, higher-yielding varietals, even orchard fruits, Lucien worked with neighbouring vignerons to establish the AOC of Bandol in 1941, with the spicy, intense and age-worthy Mouvèdre to account for at least 50% of the blend with Grenache and Cinsault in the reds.

This spiciness, intensity and ageability, American wine importer and author Kermit Lynch notes in Adventures on the Wine Route, is reflected not only in the complex character of the domaine's rosé, but also in the character of the domaine's late convivial matriarch, hostess with the mostess Lulu, who passed away in 2020, just shy of her 103rd birthday. Lulu, as the ambassador of Domaine Tempier, was famed for her generous hospitality. A self-taught and wonderful cook, which she attributed to necessity, being mother to seven children, Lulu would champion the recipes and the local ingredients of Provençe. Her dishes were often spiced with saffron which she remembered from an earlier time being planted between the rows of vines in the domaine. Today, weeds in the vineyard are controlled by sheep, and biodiversity of the soil is encouraged.

The legacy of Lulu and Lucien in their passion for the land, the terroir and the history of Bandol is reflected in each bottle of Domaine Tempier.

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In-Store Tasting:

Next Wednesday, July 20th

5:30pm - 7:30pm

Join James Madden, winemaker of Scintilla Wines the following Wednesday as he takes you through his winter release of 2021 wines.

James, a sommelier-turned-winemaker, it was a chance meeting with James Erskine, Anton von Klopper and Tom Shobbrook that ignited his passion for natural wines, and gave him the impetus to start his own wine label.

He initially started with small parcels of organically grown fruit from the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, which were made under the label, Little Things. But as the saying goes, "from little things, big things grow," and James is now producing close to 20 tonnes per vintage under his new label, Scintilla Wines.

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