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With just three plantings, Australia’s roll call for Aligoté makes for pretty short reading. There are small parcels in the Whitlands area and in the Margaret River (at Blind Corner), and then there’s the mother-vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, which supplied the cuttings for the two above sites. This is cropped from a mere three rows of 30+-year-old vines rooted in the sandy grey loams of Tuerong. The grapes were hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed to a single, old puncheon for ferment, then ten months resting on its large, soft lees. It’s a lovely example and true to not only the variety but to Australia and Mornington Peninsula in particular. “There’s detail and fineness to this release, with elegance and spice”, says Flanders. Needless to say, 2021 was a knockout vintage and has gifted a highly characterful expression of his smallest batch wine.
The third incarnation of this wine, and categorically the finest we have looked at. A delicate and detailed wine, possessing fine-boned, refreshing acidity and captivating phenolic tension. Alongside this impressive texture are citrus fruits, herbal and savoury tones and a refreshing bitter melon, grapefruit pith impression. It’s mouthwatering, with a swirl of fern polishing up what is a very powerful finish.