Raidis Estate
You may not have heard of Raidis Estate; as the owners admit, it’s “the newest kid on Coonawarra’s block”, despite the fact that the Raidis family has been working in the area for 40 years after emigrating from Greece. Grape growing has evolved into winemaking and wine is sold from the cellar door, but also something rather unique — a chance to make a special wine yourself (with the help of the winemakers). For a price you participate in the selection and picking of the fruit, the making of the wine, you get your signature on the barrel head, updates of the contents’ progress, a bottle when it’s bottled, and your name on the back label! The day of wine-making and grape picking concludes as you would expect — with a Greek feast fresh from the garden washed down with Raidis wines. It happens next April. Check out the website raidis.com.au for more details.
Masterful
Leeuwin Estate ArtSeries Chardonnay 2013
For the well-heeled, the extravagant, the generous, or just lovers of great Chardonnay, this is a treat. It has amazing complexity but is also pure and vital at the same time. It is one of Australia’s great Chardonnays.
Lighten up
Trentham Estate Two Thirds Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc and Two Thirds Merlot 2015
Here’s a new range of reduced-alcohol wines. At 8.5 per cent for the white and 9.5 per cent for the red, they’re about as alcoholic as strong beer and about two thirds that of standard wine — hence the name. They are also 40 per cent less calorific than standard wine. The flip side is that these wines don’t have the muscle of a full-strength wine, but if you choose to match them with lighter foods that can be a plus.
First Blush
Soumah Single Vineyard Al Fiori 2015
There are many ways to make a pink wine. This one utilises a technique from Northern Italy where black and white grapes are blended together. In this case Pinot Noir and Syrah are fermented in barrels minus their skins then given a little zestiness via the addition of Savarro, which is Soumah’s moniker for Savignin. The result is a very appetising, food-friendly rosato.
Did you know?
Pink wine has many names. It’s rosé in French, rosato in Italian, rosado in Spanish, and in Germany, weissherbst.
