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ACellars Newsletter 16th March, 2023 - Dr Edge New Release Tasting + Cellar Collection + Traviarti

by Annandale Cellars

Dr Edge

Tasting this Saturday

March 18th

3pm - 6pm

 

It wasn’t the winemaking bug that originally struck Peter Dredge; it was a discus to the head.

Shattering the young athlete’s dreams of a sporting career, leaving him deaf in one ear and needing rehabilitation to regain his balance, Dredge put his sports science studies on hold to take a gap year of manual labour. It was then, working vintage at Petaluma with Brian Croser and Con Moshos that Dredge’s talents beyond the sports field were unveiled. Work on the vineyard was tough with Dredge coming close to giving up on his new passion more than once, yet he persevered, even taking an opportunity to work with Germany's Dr Loosen on the revered Mosel Riesling. It might have been a jungle of vines sometimes, but it turned out that being pushed by Crose to the edge early in his promising career would eventually draw Dredge closer to the edge of the world: Lutruwita (Tasmania).

Dredge, respectfully drawn out by his winemaking friends to the moniker Dr Edge, moved to Tasmania as the Senior Winemaker for Bay of Fires, which allowed him to gain a great understanding of the island's cool climate viticulture and diverse terroir.

And so the Dr Edge label was born, with a compass of wines to explore the diverse terroir from single vineyard sites in each the north, east and south of the Apple Isle. Dr Edge wines are lees-aged with the help from a little funky yeast, and are un-dredged, ie unfined/unfiltered. The compass series are all vinified in exactly the same minimal intervention way to truly express Lutruwita

 

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Traviarti

 



Well on the way, head in a nebbiosa cloud,

the King of 1000 vines gets us talking perfectly loud.

Yes, back in the day Simon Grant might have been seen as the Fool of Red Hill, but today, from his kitchen window, he sees the sun going down over his 1000-odd vines of Nebbiolo clones, and we think he is well on his way to becoming the King of the Hill.

The goldrush town of Beechworth sits at the foothills of the Victorian Alps, and thanks to the great vigneron names such as Rick Kinzbrunner of Giaconda, Julian of Castagna and Adrian of A. Rodda to name a few, it is celebrated for both its elegant Chardonnay and Syrah. But after spending years in the wine trade and developing an obsession with the Nebbiolo of Piedmont in Northern Italy, Simon Grant decided the red decomposed shale and mudstone soil at his Red Hill vineyard overlooking the town of Beechworth from 600m was the perfect place to grow the varietal responsible for bringing the world the King of Wines, Barolo. Fortunately he wasn't the only one to be "led astray" from the greatness of producing the famed Beechworth Chardonnay and Shiraz; coincidentally, Giaconda's Rick Kinzbrunner was also growing Nebbiolo himself on Red Hill, just over the fence!

It was the structure in wine that had captured Simon's attention, along with his partner Helen Murray as they searched for a home to make wine, with their, now winemaking-daughter Phoebe in tote. Originally they had planned to grow and produce wines from the three most noble or nobile grapes of Italy, Spain and France: Nebbiolo, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon respectively. But now Simon and Helen's efforts are centered around Nebbiolo.

With the Traviarti flagship Nebbiolo carrying all of the tannins you would expect from the nobile grape, Simon offers half the power, yet all of the complexity with his Mezzo Nebbiolo. The Mezzo is beautiful with lifted herbs and bush spice on the nose, layers upon layers to enjoy.

And for those who want the velvet glove of Nebbiolo without its characteristic iron fist, Simon grows a little Barbera to flesh out his Nebbiolo for the Traviarti Rosso. Made for the drink-now style, notes of anise sit nestled in juicy black fruits. Delicious. And of course, there is his Chardonnay. He is in Beechworth after all. Terroir and winemaking deliver power, texture, balance, and of course, structure.

Traviarti. Let them lead you astray. Responsibly.

 

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Private Cellar Colection

The Aussie Sideways Collection:

Wines with PLENTY of time on their side.

Like a bit of tertiary with your tannin? Check out our recently acquired private cellar collection, filled with back vintages of Australian gems such as 1999 Seppelt St Peters, 2002 from Jacob's Creek St Hugo, Leeuwin Estate Art Series, and Wynns, and various celebrated sites and exceptional vintages from Tyrrell's.

We have tried a few from the collection ourselves, and have found them all to be aged to perfection. However, whilst we can guarantee the way in which they have all been properly cellared, we can make no guarantee that they are to everyone's taste. But, of course, the journey and the discovery are all part of the fun in fine wine!

 

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