2024 Unico Zelo Esoterico

Old bush vine Riverland Zibibbo, 14 days on skins: a genuinely affordable, seriously drinkable orange wine from Unico Zelo.

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Sale price$25.00
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Description

Esoterico started with a rescue mission. Brendan and Laura Carter came across a Riverland grower with a patch of old bush vine Zibibbo whose fruit was going nowhere but cask wine, and set out to buy the lot, keep the vines in the ground and pay him a far better price for his grapes. A few different bottlings later, this skin-contact wine is what that fruit became, and it's been a cult favourite ever since.

The 2024 is a Zibibbo blend fermented on skins for 14 days. Half was kept in tank and the other half spent 10 months in a big 3500 litre foudre before it all went to bottle unfined and unfiltered, so expect a bit of haze. This is Australia's most popular orange wine and honestly, it's one of our favourite wines to introduce new drinkers to this wine style.

Zibibbo (aka Muscat of Alexandria) brings the perfume - florals, orange peel and a grapey lift - while the skins add a gentle grip of tannin and the acidity keeps it bright and moreish. Not white, not red, just really easy to like. If you've been curious about orange wine, this is a genuinely affordable place to start.

Customer Reviews

What is Esoterico? A wonderfully delicious and genuinely affordable ‘dip your toe in Orange’ wine from Unico Zelo. A Zibibbo blend fermented on skins for 14 days. Half of the wine is left in tank whilst the second half is patiently left to age in a 3500 litre foudre for 10 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Winemaking
7-21 days on skins (variety dependent) maturation in stainless & foudre for 12 months on fine lees, before racking to stainless for further maturation prior to bottling.

The Story
This wine never fails to take me back to when I first met Brendan & Laura and they outlined their passionate mission to try and support a grower so he wouldn’t pull out his incredible old bush vine Zibibbo planted in the Riverland who just wasn’t getting any love for his grapes except for cask wine production. They saw first hand the quality of the fruit and set out to try and find a way to buy all the fruit from his vineyard, not just to save the vines but to find a way to pay him a far better price for his grapes. After making/bottling these grapes in various guises Unico Zelo created Esoterico, a skin contact expression of the fruit from this vineyard and it has been a tremendous success.

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type Amber
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Zibibbo
Country Australia
Region Riverland
Australian State SA
Feature Natural/Lo-Fi
Vegan
Women in Wine
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Cork

Unico Zelo

Unico Zelo is the Adelaide Hills winery of Brendan and Laura Carter, one of the most dynamic duos in Australian wine. The name means 'unique zeal', and while it sounds Italian, the Carters are proudly Australian producers out to give Mediterranean grapes a true Australian identity.

They started the business in 2012. Brendan studied oenology and viticulture and made wine with S.C. Pannell, Jacob's Creek and G.D. Vajra. Laura came up through Henschke's lab and cellars after a trip around Italian wineries got her hooked on how food, culture and wine connect.

Grapes are picked to suit the climate - hardy, drought-tolerant varieties that need little water or chemical help - with fruit from the Clare Valley, Riverland and Adelaide Hills. It's all made with a light touch in a 1920s coldstore in Gumeracha, with texture front of mind.

In 2019 they became, by their account, the first Australian winery certified as a B Corp. Brendan was named the 2026 Wine Communicator of the Year for bringing a younger crowd to wine.

Playful, honest and made for drinking, these are wines for the people, and we love them for it.

Founders Brendan & Laura Carter Discover Unico Zelo

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Common Questions

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