When Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke purchased this 250-acre vineyard in 2001, they brought on Peter Fraser to make the wine and Michael Lane to farm the vines. They began to implement biodynamic practices in 2008, and to...
When Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke purchased this 250-acre vineyard in 2001, they brought on Peter Fraser to make the wine and Michael Lane to farm the vines. They began to implement biodynamic practices in 2008, and to nudge the style toward traditional winemaking in open-top fermenters without added yeast. The grenache in this blend (from bush vines planted in 1946) adds bright red fruit, combining with younger vine shiraz (31 percent) and mourvèdre (28 percent) in a scent that carries the arid scrub of McLaren Vale right to the glass. The wine ends clean and fresh, with a light tannin pickup, as friendly and pleasantly funky as a finely grown Mediterranean blend from the southern Rhône.