2021 Local Weirdos Our Mate

VARIETAL: Riesling
REGION: Frankland River, WA
VITICULTURE: Sustainable
WINEMAKER: Sam, Dave, Larry, Charles & Matthew

Along with the blossom there is chamomile, jasmine and marmalade on the nose. The palate buzzes with a lime tonic acid and just restrained enough quinine bitters finish, melded with some exquisite textural almond meal on the mid-palate from the extended time on lees.

Fruit sourced from the Swinney Vineyard in Frankland River, overseen for the last time in 2021 by the wizard Lee Haselgrove. The vineyard, though not managed organically, is a trusted source given my history with Riesling grown by Lee. Picked mid-March, it eventually found its way to us in the Swan Valley. Bit of botrytis in the fruit, so whilst we have kept all other wines zero/zero this vintage we added 10ppm SO2 to this one when processing. Crushed into Nally bins for 10 days of maceration, a hot ferment being the signature feature of all previous Old Mate Rieslings. I don’t feel you get the full benefit of a balance between phenolic and aromatic extraction unless it’s creeping up to 35o C. Pressed to seasoned old oak, and lees stirred every 2-4 weeks (basically whenever I remembered) to encourage yeast autolysis and the integration of the powerful phenolics into the wine. After 8 months in oak it was racked once, had a touch of Riesling raised in stainless blended in to give it that beautiful citrus blossom aromatic lift, and then bottled with 20ppm SO2.

Local Weirdos is a collective of mates who are championing the revival of the Swan Valley. They lease a vineyard named Gino's Block, keeping it dry grown, converting to organics and improving soil health and fruit quality.