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COS + Les Fruits + 2021 Burgundy Offer + Easter Weekend Opening Hours

by Annandale Cellars

COS

COS is now a household name for many, being considered one of the best and most iconic 'natural' wine producers in the world. Three friends founded Azienda Agricola COS, in 1980: Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti and Cirino Strano. The acronym of their last names is where the name for the winery – COS – comes from. Since then, they have changed the landscape of Sicilian wine.

"Wine is our soul, our job, our rhythms, and our art."

The COS estate is located at the furthest tip of south-east Sicily, with heavy African influence in terms of both vegetation (olive, carob and almond trees) as well as the landscape of red, ochre and yellow hues. Here you can find the city of Vittoria, in the province of Ragusa, located between the Ippari and Dirillo rivers that flow from the Hyblaean Mountains to the the Mediterranean Sea. The COS vineyards are located at a higher altitude than most others in the region, providing a much needed cooling influence. COS work the vineyards biodynamically and vinify everything in terracotta amphora, a vessel that doesn't impart any flavours or aromas on the wine. In this sense, they were pioneers of reintroducing the age-old method of amphora vinification, now most producers that age their wines in this vessel are either directly or indirectly influenced by COS' work. COS are also responsible for the success of Cerasuolo di Vittoria as a region, being the first to bottle the first DOCG wine under this name in 2005 (the only DOCG in Sicily) and drawing international attention to this area.

Everyone keeps asking us about the classic COS wines which we haven't had in stock for a couple months but have made a welcome return. The 2 orange wines we carry from COS are the '23 'Rami Bianco' and the '22 'Pithos Bianco'. The 'Rami is a 50/50 blend of Grillo and Inzolia from vines grown on red soils at 230m above sea level. The 'Pithos Bianco' is 100% Grecanico from similar soils and altitude and aged in terracotta amphora. These are absolute classics of the orange wine movement and always have a place on our shelves. The red we have at the moment is the '23 'Frappato' from similar soils/altitude as the previous wines and is a classic rustic Sicilian red. These will most likely fly out the door so don't hesitate to snap these up!

 

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Les Fruits

Les Fruits is the project of Tim Stock making fresh and engaging wine in Adelaide Hills. Tim used to work as a sommelier at Aria just over 20 years ago and eventually got into wine sales then establishing his own importing company that is still thriving today. Interactions with winemakers from around the world inspired Tim to go down the winemaking path which he now does alongside importing great wines.

Currently produced in a variety of sheds in the Adelaide Hills, Les Fruits draws on its fruit from there, Barossa Valley and most recently McLaren Vale. All vineyards are farmed naturally using organic and/or biodynamic principals. The winemaking is conducted with a "do nothing unless it needs to be done" philosophy which he describes as more "no-fi" than "lo-fi". No fining, no filtration, and only homeopathic doses of sulphur before bottling. Why? "To give the wines their best chance to express their place and personality".

These wines are incredible value for money and have been getting increasingly popular - sometimes these wines sell out shortly after we put them in the fridge. We have the '22 'Collines Chardonnay' which is a racy and fresh expression of Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay that ferments and ages in old oak for 11 months on its lees before bottling. The '23 'Peu de Peau' is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc which is zippy and much more savoury than you'd expect. The '22 'Voix des Raisins' is an interesting rose made from Shiraz and Cinsault that is aged in old hogsheads for 8 months - fruity and spicy. Finally, the most popular wine here is the '24 'Gonzo Red' - the marriage of old vine Grenache and young Cinsault carbonically macerated for weeks and aged in old oak for 9 months. This is easily our best selling chilled red wine. Pick some of these killer wines up today!

 

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2021 Burgundy Offer

The 2021 vintage in the Côte d'Or is a painfully misunderstood one. It was cooler and wetter than most recent vintages with some disease pressure and spring frost putting pressure on potential yields. Many people have written 2021 off as a weak vintage, although most of these people are only repeating opinions they've heard online and lack the actual tasting experience of these wines.

Reducing vintages to "good" or "bad" is a naive take on how wine works in interaction with its place and time. It would be more beneficial to read into the underlying characteristics of the vintage to see what it has to say as each vintage has its own story to tell. With respect to the 2021 vintage in Burgundy, the best examples are fresh, elegant, tastefully subtle and mineral. This is in contrast to the much warmer 2020 and 2022 vintages sandwiching 2021 that are bigger and bolder. Parker's preference for riper vintages apparently still has a vice grip (albeit slowly waning) on subsequent critics and drinkers.

It is true that the worst examples of the vintage are tight, austere and lack fruit-weight, but the best display a charm and elegance that is difficult to attain in warmer years. We've selected some wines from the 2021 vintage below that we think are drinking well and provide good value as far as Burgundy is concerned for their price points. Pick up some of these and make up your own mind on the 2021 vintage!

 

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Easter Weekend Opening Hours

The Easter long weekend is upon us and hopefully you are all stocked up on wine by now. If you still need to do some last minute shopping for Easter, we are only closed on Good Friday and open every other day. These are our hours over the long weekend.

Good Friday: CLOSED

Saturday: 10:00 - 20:00

Easter Sunday: 10:00 - 20:00

Monday: 10:00 - 20:00

Pick up some nice bottles for the Easter lunch and enjoy the long weekend!

Wishing you a great week from the team: Chris, Pete and Aaron.

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