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Ben Gould takes his Grigio seriously. This is a far cry from the simple, one-dimensional smashers that dominate the price-scrapping end of the market—think Collio as opposed to Veneto, if you will, with a bit of skin contact thrown in for good measure! For starters, this is a single-site wine from the Gould’s organic- and biodynamic-certified home vineyard in Wilyabrup, which enjoys moderating coastal influence from the Indian Ocean just four kilometres away. The soils are rocky: pea gravel (seven to 10 metres) over hard, porous coffee rock and ironstone (25 metres) underneath. Practice in the vineyard and cellar is uncompromising, additions are a no-no and all activities, from pruning to bottling, are done in-house. Finally, Ben allows the Grigio juice to ferment on skins, which imparts deep colour and structure as well as layers of spice and red fruit to the flavour profile. All up, it’s a Grigio like few others, and as unique as it is delicious.
The fruit for the 2023 fermented on skins for 10 days before being crushed by foot and plunged by hand. It was pressed to seasoned oak for three months’ maturation. The high skin-to-juice ratio gives a rich hue to the wine, which is matched by punchy citrus and berry flavours and balanced by a pithy, smoky, grippy twist.