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Domaine de Ferrand - Mistral is back! + By Farr Flagship release + New releases from Somos & Dr. Edge on tasting Saturday 3 - 6PM + Domaine Leflaive

by Annandale Cellars

Domaine de Ferrand

Mistral has returned!

Domaine de Ferrand lies both across the Côtes du Rhône and the prestigious Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellations and has been in the Bravay family since the 19th Century, boasting some of the oldest Grenache in the area. The current custodian, Phillippe Bravay, who bottled his first vintage in 1997, practices organic farming, and keeps yields to a minimum. Vinification is traditional and intervention is minimal with open top fermenters, basket presses and cement tanks. There is no oak in the cellar at this domaine, new or old. Zero.

Their Mistral Côtes du Rhône is reliably one of the best wines we taste each year from the region and the popularity in-store and online always backs that up. It’s a wine we get access to once a year so when it’s here it’s time to load up. The sleeper in the line-up for me though is La Ferrande, which is surprisingly 100% Syrah. It’s got broader shoulders and a bit more grunt and generosity compared to the unassuming elegance of the Mistral offering a silky yet rich mouthfeel that balances darker fruit with savoury tones. 


Further up the range, the 'Vieilles Vignes' or old vine Côtes du Rhône bottling features vines planted in 1920. The vineyard is so close to Chateauneuf du Pape it’s only separated by a tiny country road! It's mostly Grenache (90%) with the rest being Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault and aged in cement and tank. Age worthy and incredible value. A rare combo these days! 

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape comes from the Chemin Saint Jean lieu-dit, keeping good company with neighbours Marcoux and Charvin. It's once again fermented and aged in concrete and tank and packs in the whole gamut of red berries and fruits even heading towards just ripe red plums. The absence of any oak gives the wine clarity and a vibrancy rarely seen in the appellation. The entire range doesn't miss a beat. - Pete L

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Dr. Edge and Somos New Releases on tasting

Saturday 28th of October

3-6PM

Join us on Saturday to taste through the new releases from two of our favourite producers, Somos and Dr. Edge. It's pretty rare for us to do a combined tasting of new releases from two different producers but when things line up like this you just have to go with it! Both producers are pretty well known to those of you that shop with us in-store and no doubt online too but if you aren't familiar with either producer here's a quick run down on who they are and what they do...

 

Somos

Australian-Mexican duo, Ben Caldwell and Mauricio Ruiz Cantú produce minimal intervention wines working with alternative varietals in McLaren Vale and Riverland in South Australia. Somos ("we are" in Spanish) wines are made in the ethos of the two chicos: fun and energetic, just being exactly themselves. Their wines hit that perfect balance between flavour and freshness whilst still championing the quality of fruit and vineyards they work with.

 

Dr. Edge

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 which was the catalyst to a new career!

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 wild yeast, and are un-dredged, ie unfined/unfiltered.

 

We will have the following wines open to taste:

Dr. Edge Drongo Pet Nat 2023

Dr Edge Tasmania Riesling 2022

Somos Fiano & Amigos 2023

Somos Rosado & Amigos 2023

Somos Garnacha & Amigos 2023

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BY FARR

The name Farr is instantly recognisable for anyone who has even a passing interest in Australian wine. The Farr family is one of the multi-generational, stalwarts of the Moorabool Valley in the Geelong region of Victoria, who have been producing exceptional wines of elegance and class for decades.

The By Farr label was established by the notoriously brusque, yet incredibly well-respected, Gary Farr in 1994. Gary had been, up until that point, the winemaker at Bannockburn, having also completed numerous vintages at the vaunted Domaine Dujac in Burgundy. Together with his wife Robyn, Gary planted, grafted, tended, produced and created some of the finest vineyards and resultant wines in Australia - a position that By Farr still holds today.

Gary has since retired from the full-time management of By Farr, but he is succeeded by his son, Nick. Like his father, Nick completed vintages at Domaine Dujac (among others), bringing Burgundian technique and philosophy together with the Farr's uniquely Australian site. He also cut his teeth with his own label, Farr Rising, which won many accolades and praise over the years. Nick is not simply a worthy successor - he is an incredibly talented vigneron in his own right, and has taken By Farr to new heights. - Pete L

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