Translation missing: en.ACellars Newsletter 24th November , 2022 - Lucy M + COS is back + Bird On A Wire Tasting this Saturday + Wine Fair tickets are selling quick!: ACellars Newsletter 24th November , 2022 - Lucy M + COS is back + Bird On A Wire Tasting this Saturday + Wine Fair tickets are selling quick!
"Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist."
- Pablo Picaso
"A winemaker can choose to be either an artist or a chemist."
- Anton von Klopper
Anton von Klopper, the pioneer of Australia's natural wine movement, with his cult, minimal intervention, "just grapes" label of Lucy M.
Following a decade of working as a chef and sommelier, Anton the bookworm graduated with first-class honours in oenology from the University of Adelaide in 2001. But after working in Germany, New Zealand and the US with winemakers who challenged the textbook or "recipe" approach to winemaking, Anton's desire took hold to express the grapes themselves, in their terroir, with the local microbiome only, without any additions, including sulphur. Anton was challenged to break the rules.
Breaking the rules with Lucy M has never been an easy walk on the wild side. Rejecting the comforts of control that come with conservative winemaking means that everything is up front. There are no lies in natural winemaking, and nothing can be masked or hidden. But over the last few years, Anton has taken control where he can to break in the wild filly that is Lucy M. He has drastically reduced the volume of organic fruit he works with to controllable levels, and careful viti- and vinicultural practices mean that the undesirable qualities associated with natural wines are restrained.
Anton's wines are not the work of a chemist, but of a rule-breaking artist. And such the artist he is, every label on each release of Lucy M is hand-drawn by Anton, still often just hours before they find themselves on the bottle.
Visit Anton's gallery on the link below.
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Bird On A Wire
Tasting this Saturday, November 26th
3pm - 6pm
Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free...
Caroline Mooney's illustrious career started with a vintage in the McLaren Vale with the Hardy's Tintara team, followed by a post-tertiary studies cellar hand position at Yering Station, working her way up to assistant, and then winemaker.
But it was a vintage in 2006 with Domaine Jean Louis Chave of Hermitage in France's Northern Rhône that really inspired Caroline to spread her wings and try to be free.
So Caroline returned home, literally home to the Yarra Valley, to start her own label, named for the Leonard Cohen song. Growing up on a dairy farm in the Yarra Valley meant Caroline had a deep understanding of the cool climate region, its seasons, its topography, its people.
Caroline's time in the Rhône certainly has an influence on her Syrah with its delicate fruit flavours and savoury tones that brighten as the wine evolves in the glass; a very elegant expression of Syrah. And of course, the Yarra's star varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sing ever so sweetly under Caroline's direction.
Join the lovely Lauren in-store this Saturday as she conducts the beautiful birdsong that is Caroline Mooney's Yarra Valley wines.
The tasting, as always, is freer than a bird on a wire, but we remind you to sing in your midnight choir responsibly.
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WINE FAIR
DECEMBER 3rd
1 - 5pm
You say you want a resolution?
Well, you know... Resolutions are for January...
The Silly Season is upon us; the time to lose all resolve!
The theme for our end of year Wine Fair is without clarity: a bitmap of blurred lines between the rendered, clean and crisp laser shooters of precision to the hazy, unfined, unfiltered funky and fuzzy fizzers. There'll be something for everyone, to level up your summer. Game on!
With over 80 wines to try, tickets are only $25, and include a Riedel tasting glass, yours to take home.
Featuring winemakers Tim Ward of I'll Fly Away, Doug Woodward of Wedded to the Weather, Will Gilbert of Gilbert Family Wines and Nick Spencer of Nick Spencer Wines pouring their own, plus plenty of friendly reps splashing their best shining wines to make the summer season sparkle. Rain, hail or more rain, it's certain to be a great day out!
The stellar line-up includes:
Apogee Tasmania Bailly Lapierre Crémants de Bourgogne Champagne Bérèche et Fils Domaine Bonnet-Cotton Beaujolais Christian Venier Cheverny Clos Cibonne Provence Crudo by Lambert Wines Dormilona Gilbert Family Wines Champagne Gosset Haddow & Dineen I'll Fly Away Inkwell Wines Champagne Laherte Frères Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Mouzon-Leroux et Fils Nick Spencer Wines Cantina Paltrinieri Lambrusco Polperro Winery Domaine Truchetet Borgogne Riley Harrison Wines Wedded to the Weather
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COS
If I had to rank my favourite Cos in order from least to most harmonious, my cosmic list would be: the contraction of 'because', the Romaine lettuce, the ratio of the adjacent to the hypotenuse, and finally wines from Azienda Agricola COS.
Whilst the volcanic wines of Mt Etna are so hot right now, Azienda Agricola COS have been instrumental in shining some eruptive light on the rest of the island of Sicily: pioneers of the island's biodynamic movement, makers of natural Terre Siciliane IGT wines, and defenders of the DOCG status of Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
COS was established in 1980 when three friends, Giambattista (Titta) Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti and Cirino (Rino) Strano, collected their initials and funds, and purchased an old family winery in the historic town of Bastonaca, Vittoria in the island's south.
The youngest winemakers Italy had to offer at the time, the COS ragazzi all completed their oenological studies whilst already having the practical side down with a few vintages of their own. Although changes to the ownership and number and size of the vineyards has changed over the years, one thing remains: the trio's dream to recreate wines in the way their ancestors once did.
Replacing the winery barrels with amphora or "Pithos" in the early 2000s, COS has a well-respected cult status in following the ancient traditions of aging the wines in clay jars that create a much more natural expression of the grapes. The wild-fermented, skin-contact whites are all deliciously clean, saline and moreish, and the rossi celebrate Sicily's racy and vibrant varietals, Nero d'Avola and Frappato. All in the range are perfect for summer; enjoy with sardines and grilled vegetables as you dream of their island home in the Mediterranean.
If you are looking for wines from the right-angled triangular island of Sicily that take a slightly different Tangent, try a COS. It's a Sin of the good times, new and old.
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