2024 Delinquente Hell Series Macerato
WINEMAKER: Con-Greg Grigoriou
REGION: Riverland, SA
VARIETY: Arinto, Malvasia
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic
80% Arinto, 20% Malvasia from Basshams Organic & Biodynamic Barmera Vineyard "The Macerato is our homage to the skin contact white wines we revere so much, an attempt to emulate those masters of orange wine but with our own Delinquente spin – keep it refreshing and super drinkable. Arinto and Malvasia the perfect varieties for the task – acid driven and fresh, but with a fruitiness that stand up alongside the structure and tannin. Fermented on skins until sugar dry, then blended skins and all and sealed for another 5 weeks before being pressed off to old oak for the winter months.
Golden hued in the glass, stone fruit and juicy nashi pear jumps out on the nose, with a nice nutty, subltey oak driven savouriness in the background. Plush fruit on the palate overlayed with tannin and fuzz, the gentle oak aging rounding out the hard corners while acid pops to create a moreish and very drinkable skinsy white wine, perfect alongside gnocchi with duck ragu, or a herbaceous massaman curry."
Con-Greg Grigoriou grew up on a vineyard in the Riverland, South Australia, where his father has managed wineries for over 35 years. A few years ago, while working for an advertising agency in Melbourne, he tasted his first truly interesting Riverland wine and something clicked - why weren’t people producing high-quality wines in his home region?
Greg’s idea for Delinquente Wine Co was to take advantage of the Riverland’s small vineyards planted with Southern Italian varieties, which are suited to the region’s dry Mediterranean climate. He sources grapes from trusted growers many of whom he has know his whole life, who work organically. In the cellar Greg takes this organic philosophy forward, all his wines are small-batch and single-vineyard, fermented in stainless steel with wild yeast and without acid adjustments. His aim is to make wine that is pure, drinkable and delicious - or as he would put it, “smashable”.