Year: 2021

Name: The Early Bird 
Varietal: Rose

Vineyard: Light Pass (Angaston), Barossa Valley

The Early Bird gets the worm and The Early Bird vineyard gets thousands! Nearly 20 years ago Sam Schmidt saw a sustainable viticulture presentation in Greenock which showcased the utility of worms and worm farms in viticultural production. He was so impressed that shortly after, with a $5.00 box of worms and a polly drum cut in half, he started his own worm farm. Today, it takes up an area of 200m2 and the juice collected in sumps is directly fertigated using the dripper system. The biodiversity, soil resilience, vine and leaf vibrancy and most importantly grape taste and quality is better than ever. Weeds and grasses are managed with cutting, and undervine weed are meticulously mechanically scrubbed out. Sam doesn't use any conventional sprays or poisons and grows inline with organic standards for more than 15 years. In 2019 Sam and Sharon were awarded Runner-Up in the Australian Sustainable Agriculture awards. All this information is great but what does it mean for wine quality. Incredible intensity! The skins are thick and robust, making it flavoursome and resistant to spoilage. The juice is wholesome and incredibly fragrant. The grapes are picked and very promptly (and lightly) directly pressed to avoid too much colour pick up. Being Cabernet there's some nice phenolics that both add some nutty texture and also act as an antioxidant. A nice, slow and cool ferment retains freshness and the residual carbon dioxide from ferment is used to protect the wine meaning absolutely minute amounts of preservatives are required. This rose' is full flavour and all fruit expressions. Those that drink this wine simply cannot believe the wine is dry and all the sugar is fermented out (another reason that preservatives are so minutely used) due to the flavour intensity.

Tasting Notes: This rose will take you back to the old fashioned lolly shop. Strawberries and cream, with nutty tannins, bright and generous acid, giving length to the palate.

Pairing: Perfect on it's own, but would pair wonderfully with a duck curry

Cellaring: Best consumed fresh but will be fine for a couple of years

Alc %: 12.8%

Winemaker: Jono Knowles