Torbreck Natural Wine Project 2009
This year after taking and drinking and talking and drinking we decided to have a go at producing a ‘natural wine’.
What is a natural wine ?
The natural wine movement is a loose coalition of growers, principally from France, Italy, Solovenia (yes..) and Spain who all work with certain shared principles, although there's no official body and no certification.
Essentially, they try to add as little as possible to their wines (some add nothing) and adhere to the principle of making wine solely from organic or bio dynamically grown grapes (harvested from low yielding hand tended vineyards). No synthetic pesticides and herbicides
Fermentations are carried out by the yeasts naturally present on the skins of the grapes. No cultured yeast.
Sulphur Dioxide, the almost universally used wine additive that protects against oxidation and unwanted microbial growth is either added in small amounts at bottling or done away with completely. No or low sulphur
The resultant wines can be fabulous or faulty but I will say that the best and most interesting wines that I have had in almost every category of wine have been made as naturally as possible. This is true, whether a Champagne from Jacques Selosse, Richebourg from DRC, Cornas from Thierry Allemand, Sancerre from Cotat or a Barolo from Bartolo Mascarello, just to name a few.
Natural wine is a firm fixture in the insider wine culture of Paris, Rome, New York and Tokyo so why not Australia?
At Torbreck, we picked an organic vineyard on Roennfeldt Road Marananga, actually Dave Powell’s home block. The Grenache is getting on towards 50 years old and is farmed organically so we used that. What can I say, it was an outrageous success – all 160 cases that we made have been allocated to the best bars and restaurants around the country. In Sydney try it at Fratelli Paradiso or Young Alfred, in Melbourne at The European, Giuseppe Arnaldo & Pearl and in Adelaide at Good Life Pizza – Hutt Street, but be quick!
8 comment(s) so far...
Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
What a fabulous principal.
Guess I'm going to have to visit Fratelli Paradiso to try it.
Congrats on the success.
By Chris Whitten on
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
Hi Dave!!!
Erika from Austin, Texas here. Wow! Kim stopped by today with your wines. All of them made me smile. You just get better and better with each vintage:) I am working for Spec's Family Wine & Spirits. I love it! Retail and I are like two peas in a pod. I don't miss the wholesale side for now. Hope to see you back in Texas! Or better yet, maybe I'll come out there with Kim next March? I'll shoot you an email so we can stay in touch. Lovin' the blog.
All My Best,
Erika Erenst-Elliott
Wine Goddess
By Erika Ernest-Elliott on
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
Please tell me this line is a incorrect "all 160 cases that we made have been allocated to the best bars and restaurants around the country." I just tried some last night at Songbirds and was very impressed - Do you still have any for sale?
By Tye on
Monday, 31 August 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
Hi Tye, sorry to say but it is true. There are only a small number of restaurants and outlet stores that have been given this wine and with such small production, it won't last long. In Queensland the only other outlet is 1889 Enoteca. Cheers Fiona
By Fiona Sheppard on
Monday, 31 August 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
We had a bottle of the Natural Wine Project at the Melbourne Wine Room last Friday night, Sept 11th. I must admit, I've always been impressed with Torbreck on a whole.. but this wine dissapointed the entire table. Not sure if we just got a bad bottle (it didn't seem 'unsound' per se)- or if the style just didn't impress the 6 of us. I work in the industry and was excited to give it a try, but I was left immensely dissapointed.
By Ann Marie on
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
Hi Ann Marie. Thanks for your input. It is always good to receive feedback regardless whether the opinion is positive or negative. As with all our wines we rigorously taste and debate the wine prior to release to ensure that the integrity of the Torbreck brand is upheld. Although we are always disappointed when someone isn't happy with our wines, we are extremely satisfied with the way this wine came together and believe it is a true expression of the style it is trying to represent. Although the wine wasn't obviously faulty, the nature of the winemaking process leaves it vulnerable to random bottle variation. Overall we are very excited by the Natural Wine Project and we will continue to make this wine into the future and we hope that you have the opportunity of trying the 2010 vintage and hopefully it will be more to your liking. Again, thanks for your input.
By fiona on
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
Please... pretty please you must make more...
I had some at Goodlife Pizza in Adelaide and ... it was truly amazing... I would love to purchase a bottle of my very own so please make more :)
By Rachele on
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
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Re: Torbreck - Natural Wine Project 2009
when can we expect to see the 2010 Natural Wine Project?
By Mark on
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
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