2021 Riot Wine Co. ‘Out of the Wood’ Chardonnay Fleurieu

Home > Wines We Love > 2021 Riot Wine Co. ‘Out of the Wood’ Chardonnay

While a can of wine may seem like it’s a wine for the park, with all the bells and whistles of classic chardonnay making, this effort deserves taking a decent glass along for the ride.

Producer
Riot Wine Co.
Region

Fleurieu
RRP

$26
Vintage

2021
Variety/Varieties

Chardonnay
Alc./Vol.

12.5%

While a can of wine may seem like it’s very much in the park/festival wine, this effort deserves taking a decent glass along for the ride. With all the bells and whistles of classic chardonnay making, this has a nutty intensity overlaying citrus and stone fruit notes. Lively acid, slippery texture and a pleasing savoury finish complete the picture.

4 x 250mL cans per pack.

Tasting note

There’s an old school quality to this, with classic notes of roasted nuts, stone fruit, citrus and mealy complexity, but this is no relic from the past, with poise and drive, a line of fresh acidity and a savoury finish carrying the day. This is a pretty serious wine for the format, but then why shouldn’t it be. It may not be made to cellar, but that’s hardly the point. Take it to the park, if you will, but this is just as apt for that glass at dinner when a bottle’s too much, or just not quite enough…

Themes of this wine

Chardonnay

With an explosion of interest over the last few decades, chardonnay is now the world’s most planted white grape. With its ability to grow in varied conditions and make everything from sparkling wine, to lean and mineral whites, to full-bodied textural expressions, it is perhaps no surprise to see Burgundy’s key white grape become so dominant.

Fleurieu

The Fleurieu is a wine zone in South Australia that encompasses the regions of Currency Creek, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale and Southern Fleurieu. While the regions are varied, they are all characterised by coastal influences, with climates ranging from Mediterranean to distinctly maritime.

Home > Wines We Love > 2020 Riot Wine Co. ‘The OG’ Grenache

Riot Wines turn out a fresh set of quaffable canned wines in their regular series, but things get a little more serious with the Limited Release wines.

Producer
Riot Wine Co.
Region

McLaren Vale
RRP

$28
Vintage

2020
Variety/Varieties

Grenache
Alc./Vol.

14.5%

Riot Wines turn out a fresh set of quaffable canned wines in their regular series, but things get a little more serious with the Limited Release wines. Grenache from a single vineyard in McLaren Vale spends time in a Sonoma Cast Stone concrete egg, keeping fruit to the fore, with wild berries and cherries up front, spices and woodsy herbs accenting, while pithy, grapey tannins keep everything in line on the palate.

4 x 250mL cans per pack.

Tasting note

There’s depth and freshness here, with wild raspberries, ripe cherries and blackberries, accented with a brush of wild herbs and subtle spices. This has been raised in a concrete egg, so oak is not a factor, but the wine has been given a harmony that a steel tank never would, with a neat meshing of gentle grapey tannins into the vibrant fruit, an earthy, savoury complexity deepening the interest. It’s in a can, but it’s both agreeably delicious and a seriously good wine, no matter the vessel.

Themes of this wine

Grenache

The great grape of the Southern Rhône, grenache, has also found many homes around the world, from Spain, to Italy, to California, while Australia is home to the world’s oldest productive grenache vines, planted in 1948. Today, a renaissance is seeing the grape championed, with makers in McLaren Vale arguably turning out the most compelling examples.

McLaren Vale

While it couldn’t feel any more removed from city life, the McLaren Vale wine region is actually inside Adelaide’s metropolitan area. And although the township itself is only 40 minutes by car from central Adelaide and vineyards brush up against ever-encroaching housing, McLaren Vale remains unaffected by the urban sprawl. With deeply etched history, the Vale has a slow-paced sense of calm and an extraordinary wealth of untrammelled beauty. It is home to some of this country’s most beautifully pristine beaches, as well as some of the world’s most forward-thinking grape-growers and winemakers. And with over 80 cellar doors, it is an essential destination for wine lovers – and anyone else, for that matter.

Egg-shaped fermenters

Amphorae are some of the most ancient winemaking vessels, and the modern practice of using ovoid fermenters is a very similar idea, with the shape encouraging ferment vectors to swirl and tumble. While amphorae are typically made from clay, eggs (and various other similar shapes, including tulip-shaped vessels) come in a range of materials, from concrete to ceramic to steel.

2021 Riot Wine Co. ‘Out of the Wood’ Chardonnay Fleurieu

4 x 250mL cans per pack.

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Chardonnay

Fleurieu

4 x 250mL cans per pack.

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Grenache

McLaren Vale

Egg-shaped fermenters

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