Flawlessly Flawed Wine Pack Explainer
Thanks for supporting our Flawlessly Flawed wine pack. This is a little background on why we have them and what may be in your pack...
Why do we have them?
(1) We started making minimal intervention wine in 2013, and still do nearly everything in-house. Only some of our larger wines for our main label are bottled off-site with a bottling line. The rest is all done, by hand, by us. The same goes for the production of our petillant naturel (pet nat; natural sparkling wines). A very labour intensive wine style with no shortage of frustrations attached! Because of all this we get a surplus of a couple of things, wines with incorrect or damaged labelling, wines without labels because we ran out (they are expensive to print short runs), wines we made in collaboration with restaurants/retailers where we made too much, wines left over from export orders, AND FINALLY, prototype wines we make as we develop new styles.
(2) We began with the mission to make wines affordable enough to have on a Wednesday night with pasta. That was genuinely why we started! So having a less expensive offering helps keep this mission alive. It's actually very important to us.
(3) Can utilise small runs of left over bottles that build up over time and often just get sent to landfill in most wineries (this is why the wines can come in an odd combination of bottles).
What's in your pack?
Hopefully a fairly exhaustive list of what is in your pack, and why it is.
Pub Red
A wine we do for a range of pubs around Melbourne. A real winter warmer with some Dolcetto and some Barbera.
Autumn Rose (pre Oct 2024)
A wine I made for myself! A bronze, structured rose made from a little bit of white and little bit of red!
Galactic White
Again, a style that I fall into all the time making wines I want a home! This has texture for days and includes some of our estate Chardonnay, some riesling and some 2024 Arneis! Oh and some Vermentino.
Hail the sweet mercies of Winter
I unashamedly love winter. Rug up and chill out, literally! This is an earthy Syrah from the Alpine Valley. Probably will make up the most of our Gymkata if we bottle that again this year. Lovely wine. So much violet.
Pet nat labelled as Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay (and possibly also Pinot Noir)
This is the basis of both our MK Rose and Chevaucher l'Eclair Pet Nat and is sourced from a beautiful vineyard high up on the Whitlands Plateau, NE VIctoria. This was a late disgorged parcel of pet nat from 2021 that was going to a bottleshop, but they didn't make it through COVID. Strikingly intense wine, with great Fanta vibes, best cold with cold cuts. A proper pet nat this.
Chilled Red 2022
This is a straight Sangiovese from the King Valley. We blend it with a rose for our Square Root of Five, but this was an early pressed red portion that I liked too much to blend. As it ages my preference is to have only slightly chilled with pizza or lamb.
Textural White 2023
This was truly my discovery of the vintage. A direct pressed Sagrantino (a red variety) blended with vermentino to make a really textural and apricot aromatic blanc. The acid in this comes from a wee bit of zesty riesling added. The bronze tint is from the bit of pigment carried over from the quickly pressed Sagrantino. We'll be making this one again for sure. Grapes were sourced from NW Vic.
Sagrantino Rose 2023
This is the partner wine to the Textural White, made from the same parcel of grapes but less Vermentino and about 20% King Valley Dolcetto Rose added to it.
High Plains Pinot Noir 2022
A very Pinoty Pinot from high up in the mountains of the NE, this is a big Pinot we make but without any oak treatment. For the Pinot lovers, also great chilled.
The Orb Riesling
Firstly a love the name of this one, named after the seminal electronic group obviously. It made me think of them because it is from a vineyard high up in the clouds and they have the song Fluffy White Clouds. Anyway... we make this in our popular Pan Opticon Riesling Pinot Gris Gewurz blend, but this was left over after I loaded the main wine off to get bottled. Normally this portion gets wasted, but because of you guys it isn't! So sort of the grippier portion. Was also a great use of a heap of old bottle stock and corks that normally get thrown out. A great waste.
Over and Over Pinot Noir (French Label)
This was going to Quebec but the order changed due to the Goverment monopoly system over there but it had already been labeled.
Pan Opticon Riesling Pinot Gris Gewurz
I damaged some caps when I was moving the boxes around! They are just dented.
Estate Pinot Noir
Lucky to get this one! It is from our vineyard in Whitlands. Ran out of labels!!!
SKIN CONTACT PINOT GRIS 2022
Pinot gris | Gewurz from up at our vineyard. Skin contact, wild ferment. Ran out of labels for this one. Great with tuna carpaccio.
V:LAD THE SEMILLON 2022
A portion of our Admiral Ackbar Semillon that was put into new Romanian oak barrels to make a rich, wholesome portion. Low alcohol but very rich. Great with carbonara or fish!
Dolcetto Pet Nat 2023
Ran out of labels on our Mt Midoriyama Classic Edition Pet Nat! Love the nectarine skin vibe in this one. Fully hand disgorged, made the proper way.
Manilla Chilla Dilla 2023
Made for an oz bottleshop, this was really succesful as a light-ish, bright red with Pinot Meunier from our vineyard, Dolcetto (red and rose) and some cool climate Cabernet.
High Time White 2023
Originally made for Thailand, this is some Riesling (Pan Opticon), some Arneis (Boggy Creek) and some Chardonnay from our vineyard that had extended time in new French Oak.
Cherry Granitco 2023
A classic Konpira Maru rose, full of personality and bite. This one has red fruits for days and a granitic edge which makes it great with a pizza. Experimented with Pinot Meunier from our vineyard, Sagrantino from down in the King Valley and some Dolcetto rose from our Classic Edition Pet Nat, oh and some Pinot Noir from Whitlands.
Grippy and Zippy 2023
A skin contact blend that focuses on Arneis, Friulano and some Riesling. Is very much non-filtered, so some extra solids here to add to the mid-palate texture. There is a screw-cap version (most have a crown seal) which was from a very successful collaboration with an independent bottleshop chain and there were some extras we didn't have labels for.
Future Days Red 2022
This is our other label Future Days which is all about celebrating the independent wine scene, from vineyard to shop. It is a great label in its own right and this wine is particularly delicious. Dolcetto and Pinot mostly with some Syrah. Great chilled.
Italo Rustico
A batch of Barbera and some sagrantino we were using for a heap of chilled red collaborations with bars etc Very yum! Great chilled.
Crepuscular rays of winter
A bold and juicy light red meets rose that is our preferred style for these months. It is the sagrantino that goes into our Total Victory pet nat co-fermented with some Pinot Meunier.
Pub Red v2
Another version of a wintery fireside red that we are punting around town in kegs currently to various public houses. Slightly lighter than the last to suit the transition to Spring and the few slightly bluer days!
GOLDEN CIRCLE (2024)
Some left over El Pacu skinsy white.
Melb Food and WIne Collab Pet Nat
Some Classic edition Pet Nat which was topped with Pinot for a collab with the restaurant Henry Sugar in Melbourne.
Autumn Rose (Oct 2024 - Jan 2025)
Another experiment with Sagrantino blanc with a little Riesling. We love sagrantino blanc so much (Sagrantino pressed off as rose).
Autumn Rose (Jan 2025)
Straight Sangiovese rose from the Aradale vineyard which will go into our next chilled red blend. Very nice provencal rose.
GOLDEN CIRCLE (2025)
Left over wine of a Melbourne restaurant chain collab, also going to Japan for a collab there. Turned out really well. Verdelho and arneis with some chardonnay from our vineyard.
Pub Red v3
This one has some more sagrantino in it for eartiness, trying to meet the (eventual) change in season to Autumn as Melbourne hopefully starts to cool down. Definitely chillable.
Chunky Move Riesling Blend
Pan Opticon riesling bottled as sponsorship for the legendary Melbourne dance troupe.
Reflections of...
Disco Pocket Riesling