
2024 S. Caica Mourvèdre




WINEMAKER: Simon Caica
REGION: McLaren Vale, SA
VARIETY: Mourvèdre
VITICULTURE: Organic
We're stoked (big time) to introduce you to Simon Caica's new solo winemaking project. You probably know Simon's wines from his Lust for Life label, which we adore. Here we've taken a little journey away from the Hills to new fruit sources in McLaren Vale. Expressive, thoughtful renditions of two very much underrappreciated varieties. One to keep an eye on, and some.
"I’ve realised recently that I have been very lucky with the quality of Mourvèdre/Mataro that I’ve had. When I locked this fruit down, I bought as many Australian examples as I could and drank them with the wonderful Jono Ward of Gentlefolk fame. In a nutshell: the good wines were bloody great and the bad were fucking awful. Yangarra, Vanguardist, Bondar, Willows, Tonic & others of that ilk. They’re all brilliant, you should buy and drink those.
Anyway, I was a bit panicky after that tasting. I truely wanted to do a good job with this parcel. I asked a group of winemakers much smarter than me and they gave me some much needed tips. Anyway, I didn’t muck it up. It looks good, which is high praise from me. Mourved is naturally reductive, if left unattended it can stink. But the varietal sanguine character is also part of its charm. There’s a small portion of carbonic maceration, but other than that it’s 10% whole bunches and on skins for 14 days. I didn’t like how it looked in 300L barrels, so it was moved to 225s to frame the tannin. A good splash of 4 month macerated Shiraz also helped. Anyway, it looks varietal and structured, but still fresh. Drinkability is important for me. Blue + purple fruits and flowers, but theres a hint of pepper & saucisson which speaks true to the grape. Go the crows" - Thanks Simon, nailed it.