Here’s a quaffable, light red wine that we love drinking. The Accidental Red came about in 2022 by…..unforeseen opportunity…..by accident! The Merlot being pressed for Rosé had too much juice remaining to discard to compost and Shiraz pressings had too much colour for Rosé so in they went together. In 2023 we decided to make the Accidental Red deliberately and to make it better. And we have! Merlot berries are fermented with pressed out Shiraz juice, so in effect there was half the amount of the usual skins for the wine volume. A relatively quick wild yeast fermentation (limiting the time on skins) then into barrel for malolactic and six months maturing through the winter. Simple. This wine is from premium Macedon Ranges fruit yet comes in as a bright, chillable, quaffable, deliberately inexpensive fun wine. It’s fruity and gently juicy, perfumed and earthy. The palate is smooth in a mid-weight Pinot-like way with a silky, fine tannin finish. Winery.
"The back label offers an explanation of sorts – merlot is added to pressed-out shiraz juice, co-fermented and aged in barrel for about six months. So, it’s juicy and tangy, all bright-fruited, with the feel of a carbonic gamay in a way. It’s buoyant with lively acidity, and lithe tannins give it shape. This is a beauty. I hope it’s no accident and this becomes a regular addition. 93 points."
Jane Faulkner
Published 17 June 2024
