2024 Delinquente Roko il Vagabondo Montepulciano

WINEMAKER: Con-Greg Grigoriou
REGION: Riverland, SA
VARIETY: Montepulciano
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

The Montepulciano was harvested from two different patches on the Bassham Family Organic vineyard, on separate days about a week apart. Each pick was fermented separately and blended together just prior to bottling. The earlier pick carried a lovely tart acidity and green energy, usually associated with whole bunch fermented wines, while the later pick gives palate weight and the deeper fruit character for drinkability – the final blend bringing both parcels together in a really awesome way.

Smells like the combination of dark, brambly fruit and a giant tomahawk steak sizzling over charcoal... but with a violet floral, out in the meadow freshness to it. Crazy nice to smell. On the palate, soft dark fruit and chewy, drying tannin makes you yearn for red sauce – margherita pizza or pasta amatriciana.

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”.