When one thinks of the great waterways of the world, the mind conjures up such rivers as the Nile, the Amazon, the Torrens... no one ever thinks of the mighty Boggy Creek. Yet what an achiever it is. Sure it may not be wide or rapid, but this brook, bourn, runnel, rill, whatever you want to call it, has made its own mighty mark on the wine industry, by slowly over geological time, splitting the lava flow that formed Whitlands in two. And there it flows, between the two towering viticultural goliaths of the Whitlands ridges, just admiring its own handiwork. However, that's not all, this unassuming tributary of the King River has also sprung its own gold seam, with the beautiful Cavicchiolo Vineyard sitting either side of its banks. And it's here that we were lucky enough to secure a small parcel of Arneis.
Site: Cavicchiolo Vineyard, King Valley, Victoria. . Deep red volcanic soils. Traditionally farmed conventionally but recently moved to sustainable viticulture.
Production: This was processed and fermented in our Whitlands vineyard, outside next to our vines to ensure we have a complex wild yeast ferment. Run through the de-stemmer and only very lightly crushed into 1000L ferment tubs. Foot stomped once in the morning and once in the afternoon on a daily basis, for gentle extraction during fermentation. Left to ferment on skins for 3 weeks. The ferments were then basket pressed just as ferment was ceasing and transferred back to the winery in Melbourne where it was moved into old french oak. It then went through partial malo during its 5 months in barrel before being blended and racked. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with a sulphur addition at bottling.
Aromatics of new season apricots and honeysuckle and a palate of lightly roasted almonds, baked apples and cinnamon, with a belt of lovely tannin and acid. Best enjoyed with wiener schnitzel with a splash of fresh lemon and accompanied by a finely made, smooth but not too buttery mash potato.
