2021 Parley Into the Night

WINEMAKER: Joss, Mel & Sarah
REGION: McLaren Vale, SA
VARIETAL: Cabernet Sauvignon
VITICULTURE: Organic

Blackcurrant, plum and baking spices on the nose with a vibrant blackberry and black cherry fruit profile palate. The tannins are velvety and well integrated for such a young wine offering up pristine drinkability.

Cabernet Sauvignon was hand destemmed into a 1000L flower pot and macerated on skins for 14 days; with gentle cap management to wet the cap twice daily. The gentle working of the ferment has allowed the wine to retain its fruit profile without over extraction of tannins. Once dry it was gently pressed off using a hand basket press and aged in seasoned French barriques for 11 months, with bottling taking place in February of 2022.

To ‘parley’ is to hold a conference with opposing sides to discuss terms. As a team of three we got really good at that. We were all wearing many hats at the start of the 2021 vintage - Mel, a brilliant student was in her third year of Viticulture and Oenology at The University of Adelaide, working for Commune of Buttons, Son of Dot Drinks and a mother to be. Sarah was running The Summertown Aristologist and working with Les Fruits. And Joss, at one point, balancing 4 simultaneous jobs and a vintage at Gentle Folk.

Needless to say we needed one another to get things done and swift decision making became our forte. Finding time in our already overcomplicated schedules, we made wine and managed to do it with finesse. For the last year we have been continuously bouncing off one another, discussing and seeking solutions to obstacles and finding consonance in our decisions. We suppose in essence, we are one big Parley.