2023 Parley In Motion Grenache
WINEMAKER: Joss, Mel & Sarah
REGION: Langhorne Creek, SA
VARIETY: Grenache
VITICULTURE: Organic
NOSE: Sylvia cherry, star anise, cocoa. PALATE: Baking spices, plum, tobacco leaf.
Spicy and savoury on the front palate yet vibrant and fruit forward on the mid, this wine has an incredible depth of flavour that can only be described as rich and decadent. Silky tannins that cant be missed hold up the wine well, drink now or lay it down - either way it works well!
The ultimate lasagne of Grenache was created in 2 x 1000L stainless tanks by hand destemming a layer of whole berries, adding whole bunches and topping it off with more hand destemmed berries. Once the ‘lasagne’ of grapes was prepared we sealed the tanks under a generous spray of dry ice and patiently waited for fermentation to kick off. After a few days we began to saignee the juice daily from one tank to the other before resealing under more dry ice. After a few weeks we foot stomped the whole bunches and pressed to stainless before racking into seasoned French hogs heads for elevage. Bottled in November with only 1300 bottles produced.
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.