About The Wine
The red grape Nero d'Avola, a red grape native to Sicily (though annoyingly not to the coastal town of Avola), has found a comfy home in McLaren Vale.
This latest release from Rob Mack at Aphelion, sourced from a vineyard in Willunga, is super bright in colour and aromatics, showing redcurrant, plum and heaps of lifted spice characters.
There is some fine tannin and some time in French oak but this is above all a jubey, juicy number with a good acid backbone.
About Aphelion
Aphelion was established by Rob Mack and Louise Rhodes with a clear vision. They had one thing on their mind, to craft: "Genuine, Authentic, Quality McLaren Vale Grenache."
A couple of vintages in and they are right on the money. They have close relationships with local growers in the Vale who provide them with excellent Grenache fruit and Rob's deft touch in the winery takes care of the rest.
The range is slowly growing, as is their family. Their investigation into their pet variety is deepening, as is their fan base. The small batches of wine that come out of the Aphelion stable should have a close eye kept on them, more often than not there's something exciting and great value in the bottle.
Aphelion HQ, McLaren Vale, SA
From The Producer
Beautifully intense purple colour with aromatics that jump out of the glass. Pure fruited aromas of redcurrant and spicy plum follow through on to the palate with fresh acidity keeping the wine lively and vibrant. A slight rasp of powdery tannin a savoury element and good palate length.
All of the fruit was sourced from the Lopresti vineyard in the Willunga foothills area of McLaren Vale. The fruit was hand-picked early in the ripening period to make sure there was plenty of retained fresh acidity and crunchy fruit flavours. The fruit was destemmed with whole berries fermentedto dryness and pressed directly to two 500L puncheons and one 600L demi-muid, all neutral French oak in origin. The wine remained in oak on full lees where it matured until bottling in November 2020.
Blend : Nero d'Avola (100%)
Drink Until : 2025
McLaren Vale
Critic Reviews
"Nero d’Avola, ne’er do that well, but can be delicious of course. Here via the lens of Aphelion.Strong bouquet of sweet cherry and kirsch, some medicinal, Panadol Elixir like notes in there too. Kirsch to taste, a zing of tart acidity through the soft, fleshiness of texture. Despite the flavour-town feel it’s quite light, actually, and finishes bright and tart. Nice drinking right here. Tamed the nero down." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
"Hand picked, de-stemmed to whole berries and matured briefly in large-format neutral French wood. A range representing an idiom of wines that are contagious of energy, effusive of fruit and eminently drinkable. Sour cherry, tangerine, rosehip, pomegranate and turmeric spice. Dusty and lithe. Lip smacking, mid-weighted refreshment. Lovely drinking." - Ned Goodwin MW (Halliday Wine Companion)
Delivery is Free for any order of $99 or more, or just $10 for any orders less than $99. There is no minimum order quantity and you can mix and match as much as you like. Make your perfect mixed pack! In Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Byron Bay we deliver with our own vans. All other areas are serviced by Australia Post.
Sydney Metro orders in the Pink Zone will be delivered the next day 5 days per week, Monday through Friday. Orders in the Blue Zone will be delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays. Everything outside these zones will be delivered by Australia Post.
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Brisbane Metro orders are picked up from our Sydney warehouse every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 12pm and delivered on Thursday or Friday. Please refer to this map to see if your address is considered Brisbane Metro here. Everything outside of this zone will be dispatched next business day with Australia Post.
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