Magnificent!
Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
About The Wine
This is an unusual creation from the Forlorn Hope tribe, but honestly, what else would you expect?!
The Red Wine smashes Zinfandel, Trousseau noir, and Mondeuse (what a combo!) into a three-way blended light, structural, energetic red wine that comes at you head on. It's got attitude and attacks the mouth with chiselled definition and a bushel of forest fruits that will make you head spin.
It's only available in limited quantities here in Australia and with Mike Bennie's excellent review, it'll be gone in no time.
About Forlorn Hope
Matthew Rorick is one of California's rockabilly winemaking superstars.
His love for the unloved and obscure varieties dotted around his homeland combined with his stripped-back, bare-knuckle winemaking style have seen his small batches of 'Rare Creatures' develop a feverish cult following in the US of A.
These rogue wines of California are some of the most exciting in the state. The Queen Of The Sierra Estate wines are grown on Matt Rorick's garden of Eden Heritage vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. The fruit is farmed without chemicals, the wines re untinkered-with aside from a dash of SO2.
Want rockabilly wine made with real heart and soul? You've found it.
California, USA
From The Producer
The 2017 Queen of the Sierra red estate blend was grown on the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Calaveras County at 2000’ elevation, featuring soils comprised of a layer of schist over dolomite-rich limestone. Composed primarily of Zinfandel, Trousseau noir, and Mondeuse, the Queen shows all of the aromatic complexity and textural presence that are the hallmarks of wines grown on the limestone of our estate. It presents with compelling dynamic tension between its bright and forward fruit and the supple tannins and lively acidity that make up this wine’s backbone.
All fruit for our estate red was hand-picked; fermentation was allowed to begin spontaneously with native yeast. Each variety was fermented separately due to differing pick dates: the Trousseau and Mondeuse were each fermented in open top fermentors with 100% stem inclusion; the Zinfandel was destemmed and fermented in a closed-top tank. All lots were pressed at dryness, averaging 14-21 days total time on the skins, and placed into neutral 227L barrique. In the winter of 2018 the individual lots were racked and blended together; they remained in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel until being bottled unfined and unfiltered in April of 2019. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.
Blend : Zinfandel, Trousseau noir, Mondeuse
ABV : 12.57%
Closure : Cork
Drink Until : 2027
Bottle Size : 750ml
California, USA
Critic Reviews
"Magnificent! Takes a while to open up, but this has all the sinewy and athletic muscle of great nebbiolo (!), tannins of such, Italianate flavours in herbs and sweet earth and sour cherry. Fantastic. Long, lean and tightly wound, again, it’s words about tannin and structure that ring loud here. Such a good, detailed, interesting, layered wine. It drinks like best of fine dry reds, with pizzazz of the unusual parts. Yewww!" - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
Delivery is Free for any order over $149 or more, or just $10 for any orders of $149 or less. There is no minimum order quantity and you can mix and match as much as you like. Make your perfect mixed pack!
Sydney Metro orders will be delivered the next day 5 days per week, Monday through Friday. We can guarantee delivery before Christmas as long as you get your order in by midnight 23rd of December. Please refer to this map to see if your address is considered Sydney Metro here.
Melbourne Metro orders are picked up from our Sydney warehouse every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and delivered the following day in Melbourne (Tues/Wed/Fri). We can guarantee delivery before Christmas as long as you get your order in by 10am 22nd of December. Please refer to this map to see if your address is considered Melbourne Metro here.
Brisbane Metro orders are picked up from our Sydney warehouse every Wednesday and delivered the following day in Brisbane (Thursday or Friday). We can guarantee delivery before Christmas as long as you get your order in by 10am 22nd of December. Please refer to this map to see if your address is considered Brisbane Metro here.
Australia Wide Deliveries outside of Sydney and Melbourne metro are all delivered with Australia Post's eParcel wine delivery service. They pick up from us at 12pm Monday through Friday. When your order has been dispatched you'll receive tracking information to your email. Unfortunately with the complications of Covid and expected Christmas surge Australia Post are being extremely vague about delivery times. You will need to have your order placed before midnight 10th of December if you want to ensure it’s there for Christmas.
Authority to Leave and other delivery instructions can be left in the ‘SPECIAL REQUESTS’ box during checkout. The 'SPECIAL REQUESTS' box can be found on the here page before the final checkout page.
Warehouse Pickup is available at our Sydney warehouse at 3 Fig, Ultimo, 2007. You are not able to browse our warehouse shelves and we are not licenced to sell over the counter, so please place your order online or over the phone before arriving. Feel free to call on arrival on 1300 668 385 and we can bring your order out to your vehicle.
Express Same Day Delivery is available for Sydney postcodes within 10km of the CBD. There is a $10 delivery surcharge and the order needs to be placed before 12pm midday.
Our Heat Policy can be viewed here. If you would like us to hold dispatch of your order for milder weather please leave instructions to do so in the 'SPECIAL REQUESTS' box found on the cart page before the final checkout. We are happy to hold it for as long as you like. All orders are fully insured so you can buy with full confidence that these tasty beverages will get to you in tip-top shape.
Returns are free for 100 days after purchase. You can view the conditions of our return policy here
For any other shipping related inquiries, please see our helpful FAQ, email us at hello@differentdrop.com or call us on 1300 668 385..
Do I have to order in dozens? No, please mix it up! You can order wines in any quantity and variation you like. You can order 1 bottle or 50. We challenge you to make the ultimate mixed pack of wine!
Are there volume discounts? No, our pricing is designed to be the best in market already - no marking up and then discounting down! For very large orders (weddings, etc) we are open to negotiating though. Just give us a call.
Do we price match? Yes, within reason. Everyday low & consistent pricing is something we strongly believe in. We want our customers to feel confident they are always getting the best price. If you see a price lower somewhere else let us know and we'll consider matching it. We'll even retrospectively issue you store credit if you have already purchased from us but you see a lower price somewhere later on. Our price match policy can be seen here.
Can coupons and discounts be stacked? No, only one discount or coupon can be applied to an order at once.
I am trying to add more of a wine to my cart but it won’t let me? This means we are running low on stock of that wine. So for example, if the website will only allow you to add 3 bottles and no more, then that is all we have of that particular wine. The good news is we may be able to order more for you. Just contact us on 1300 668 385 or hello@differentdrop.com and we'll organise the additional quantity for you.
Does Different Drop have a physical store? No. More of a warehouse/office. We do however offer a Click & Collect option from our warehouse in Ultimo, Sydney. Our warehouse address for Click & Collect is: 3 Fig St, Ultimo, 2007/ Please make sure you have placed your order before arriving at the warehouse
Can I special order a wine you do not sell? If it’s doable, then we’ll make it happen. Just contact us directly via phone, chat or email and we’ll find out for you right away. Please note that in most cases special orders such as these will need to be in full case lots (6 or 12 bottles).
More FaQs: here
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