Home > Wines We Love > NV The Other Wine Co. ‘Savagnin № 2’

A heady riot of unusual flavours that demonstrates why a handful of wine-lovers adore savagnin that has been matured under a ‘veil’ of flor yeast.

Producer
The Other Wine Co
Region

Fleurieu
RRP

$30
Vintage

2021–22
Variety/Varieties

Savagnin
Alc./Vol.

13.5%

Savagnin is one slippery customer of a grape variety. It landed in Australia in the 1980s labelled as ‘albariño’ – a clerical error that wasn’t discovered until 2008, and was the cause of a lot of angst at the time – and is now made in a wide array of styles, from crisp, fresh wines fermented in stainless steel to rich, round, chardonnay-like expressions. A small number of producers also make savagnin sous voile (under a veil of flor yeast), and The Other Wine Co.’s example of this relatively niche style – made by 2025 Young Gun of Wine Finalist Matt Large – ticks all of the boxes of what makes these wines brilliant to drink.

Tasting note

The nose of this wine lets you know you’ll be in for a wild ride: there’s tangy Moroccan-style preserved lemon, sea spray, funky parmesan rind, sourdough starter in its glass jar, pine nuts freshly toasted in a frying pan, curry leaf, struck matchstick … and, peeking through this riot of unusual aromas, just the barest hint of just-ripe quince and bruised Granny Smith apple. Savagnin’s trademark brisk, angular acidity leads on the palate, barrelling these intriguing flavours down the tongue to the mid-palate, where the wine slows its roll and develops some weight and flesh. The wine fans out on the finish, disappearing into a lingering haze of lemon zest, sea salt, and a touch of appealing pithy bitterness. As with all other sous voile savagnins, this is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea – but if you’re not afraid of complexity and character, this might be your new favourite white wine. Try it with a freshly-cracked tin of Spanish anchovies and some toasted sourdough, and let the funk take you over.

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Literally translated as ‘under veil’, sous voile is a method of maturing wine where the barrels are not topped, and a film of flor yeast develops on top of the wine. This ‘veil’ protects the wine from oxidation, while converting the acids to aldehydes, which give dry Sherry its characteristic nutty and briny notes. The same process is employed in France’s Jura region to make the famous vin jaune (literally, ‘yellow wine’).

Savagnin

Best known for the wines of the Jura in France’s north-east, savagnin was introduced to Australia as somewhat of a stowaway. The first vines were planted at a time when vine cuttings were mislabelled, with plantings of what was thought to be albariño correctly identified as savagnin in 2009. While at the time this was of real consternation to growers, a subsequent interest in the wines of the Jura has seen that accident reframed as a somewhat happy one.

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 > 2022 Leko Blanc

The entry level white for Jono and Damon Koerner’s Leko range, this is a bellwether for the thoughtfully subtle detail felt throughout the wines, with gentle spice across orchard fruits, and a pithy grip providing moreish tension.

Producer
Leko
Region

Adelaide Hills
RRP

$35
Vintage

2022
Variety/Varieties

Pinot gris/grigio Sauvignon blanc Savagnin
Alc./Vol.

12.8%

The Leko range is the brothers Koerner’s foray out of the Clare Valley and into the Adelaide Hills, where Damon now lives with his young family. It is also the location of their new winery. This is a savagnin-led blend with some more familiar Hills varieties, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc.

Tasting note

This has seen a week on skins, which gives it it’s tawny amber hue and lifted spice notes, with touches of cinnamon, carraway and white pepper, along with a candied orange peel and mustard fruit note. Beneath that, apples and pears jostle with a gentle herbal line. Jalapeño and lime characters chime in on the palate. The result is a wine neatly balanced between the savoury and the juicy, with a pithy grip of skinsy tannin and bright acid complementing the slippery flex of texture.

Themes of this wine

Savagnin

Best known for the wines of the Jura in France’s north-east, savagnin was introduced to Australia as somewhat of a stowaway. The first vines were planted at a time when vine cuttings were mislabelled, with plantings of what was thought to be albariño correctly identified as savagnin in 2009. While at the time this was of real consternation to growers, a subsequent interest in the wines of the Jura has seen that accident a somewhat happy one.

Pinot gris/grigio

Whether you call it pinot gris or pinot grigio, the variety has become an international star, pushing even sauvignon blanc out of the spotlight for those wanting a crisp, quaffable white without all the overt fruitiness. But the grape is much more versatile than that, making wines that can be dry and mineral or richly sweet and spicy, as well as skin-contact examples that are grippy and fragrant with red fruits and spices.

Sauvignon Blanc

When you think of sauvignon blanc, it’s hard not to think of New Zealand almost immediately, and the pungently expressive examples from Marlborough. But sauvignon also contributes to some of France’s most noble wines, as well as a huge diversity of expressions in Australia, both bottles solo and in blends. One of the most aromatic of grapes, sauvignon blanc is not shy for flavour and typically is quite high in acid. On the leaner end, those flavours will be very grassy and herbal and advance through passionfruit to some quite opulent tropical characters as the fruit gets riper.

Adelaide Hills

There is arguably no more creatively fertile wine region in Australia right now than the Adelaide Hills. The push to plant vines in the Hills was led by some of Australia’s most established and famous names – Croser, Henschke, Shaw and Smith, Knappstein, Weaver – and while they are all still very much major players, the Hills has also been a hotbed for the avant-garde – Lucy Margaux, Ochota Barrels, Unico Zelo, Commune of Buttons, BK Wines etc. – and the cradle of the natural wine movement in this country. It’s fair to say that the Adelaide Hills are cool climate, but beyond that, it defies boxing in. The altitude varies considerably, and the nature of the terrain means that there are so many vineyard aspects and localised climatic conditions that what may thrive on one site may be totally unviable on another. Key varieties are chardonnay, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and nebbiolo.

Home > Wines We Love > 2015 Kangarilla Road ‘The Veil’

Savagnin under flor yeast, in the style of the wines from France’s Jura region. This vintage is a stunningly bright affair, layered with waxy, briny umami notes and shot through with citric freshness, whipcrack dry and moreish.

Producer
Kangarilla Road
Region

McLaren Vale
RRP

$30
Vintage

2015
Variety/Varieties

Savagnin
Alc./Vol.

13%

While other makers were still reeling after the 2009 revelation that all Australia’s albariño vines were actually savagnin, Kangarilla Road’s Kevin O’Brien was adapting. In 2011, he released his first Savagnin under flor yeast, in the style of the wines from France’s Jura region. In 2015, ‘The Veil’ is a stunningly bright affair, layered with waxy, briny umami notes and shot through with citric freshness, whipcrack dry and moreish.

Tasting note

This has a classic flor nose resembling Fino sherry, with chalky, nutty, sea spray umami notes and hints of orange peel, preserved lemon and sesame. This is remarkably fresh and bright for the age, with a driving salinity carrying a core of citric fruit wrapped in those waxy flor notes, a sapid drying finish drawing this long through the palate, finishing dry and with a pleasing chew and pucker of grip.

Themes of this wine

Savagnin

Best known for the wines of the Jura in France’s north-east, savagnin was introduced to Australia as somewhat of a stowaway. The first vines were planted at a time when vine cuttings were mislabelled, with plantings of what was thought to be albariño correctly identified as savagnin in 2009. While at the time this was of real consternation to growers, a subsequent interest in the wines of the Jura has seen that accident reframed as a somewhat happy one.

Sous voile/flor yeast

Literally translated as ‘under a veil’, sous voile is a method of maturing wine where the barrels are not topped, with a film of flor yeast developing on top of the wine. This ‘veil’ protects the wine from oxidation, while converting the acids to aldehydes, which give dry Sherry its characteristic nutty and briny notes. The same process is employed in France’s Jura region to make the famous Vin Jaune (literally, yellow wine).

McLaren Vale

While it couldn’t feel any more removed from city life, the McLaren Vale wine region is 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.

Home > Wines We Love > Crittenden Estate ‘Macvin’ Savagnin NV

Sweet, but cut through with salted nut and smoky notes, and alcohol spirit lending it shape and line. Crittenden Estate’s take on the Macvin of France’s Jura region, with flor-aged savagnin combined with unfermented new-vintage juice, then fortified.

Producer
Crittenden Estate
Region

Mornington Peninsula
RRP

$90
Vintage

NV
Variety/Varieties

Savagnin
Alc./Vol.

17%

This is Crittenden Estate’s take on the Macvin of France’s Jura region, with flor-aged savagnin combined with unfermented new-vintage juice, then fortified to stop any chance of it fermenting. This is lusciously sweet but cut through with salted nut and smoky notes, and all buoyed on a spine of spirit lending it shape and line.

Tasting note

There’s an immediate lift of nutty and briny sherry-like things on the nose. A waft of peaty smokiness lifts off the sweet-fruited and grapey core, with hints of vanilla wafer and salt flakes on caramel, along with orange oil, orange peel, toffee and roasted golden apples. This is rich, with a burr of alcohol calming down the sweetness and combining with the saline and nutty seam to give it form and carry through the palate. This is heady stuff, exotic, umami-laced and engagingly decadent.

Themes of this wine

Macvin

Macvin de Jura is a wine style, or rather a beverage style from France’s Jura region, in the north-east. It’s not strictly wine, as unfermented savagnin juice is boiled to reduce and concentrate, before being fortified with spirit to stop any chance of it fermenting. It is then aged for several years in oak before bottling.

Sous voile/flor yeast

Literally translated as ‘under a veil’, sous voile is a method of maturing wine where the barrels are not topped, with a film of flor yeast developing on top of the wine. This ‘veil’ protects the wine from oxidation, while converting the acids to aldehydes, which give dry Sherry its characteristic nutty and briny notes. The same process is employed in France’s Jura region to make the famous Vin Jaune (literally, yellow wine).

Savagnin

Best known for the wines of the Jura in France’s north-east, savagnin was introduced to Australia as somewhat of a stowaway. The first vines were planted at a time when vine cuttings were mislabelled, with plantings of what was thought to be albariño correctly identified as savagnin in 2009. While at the time this was of real consternation to growers, a subsequent interest in the wines of the Jura has seen that accident a somewhat happy one.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula wine region is somewhat of a latecomer, with ongoing commercial production not taking hold until the 1980s. But it has blossomed somewhat since then. Now boasting over 200 vineyards, with 60-odd wineries and over 50 cellar doors, the Mornington Peninsula specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, while also staking a claim to some of the country’s best pinot gris.

Home > Wines We Love > 2016 Crittenden Estate ‘Cri de Coeur’ Savagnin

Matured under flor yeast, this is a Mornington Peninsula version of Vin Jaune, loaded with preserved lemon and nutty sherry-like notes, with explosive power and a dryly saline umami carry.

Producer
Crittenden Estate
Region

Mornington Peninsula
RRP

$80
Vintage

2016
Variety/Varieties

Savagnin
Alc./Vol.

15.8%

Crittenden Estate were pioneers of albariño, until it was revealed the vines were actually savagnin, then they became pioneers of that instead, now making thrilling styles in homage to the great wines of the Jura region of France. Matured under flor yeast, this is a Mornington Peninsula version of Vin Jaune, loaded with preserved lemon and nutty sherry-like notes, with explosive power and a dryly saline umami carry.

Tasting note

Brassy golden to look at, this hits you with a big whack of sherry-like notes, with a classic nutty and waxy overlay, kicking up hints of linseed oil, toffee apple, a slosh of brine and preserved lemon. This is umami plus. There’s full fruit here, with a gentle richness, cut with a curious peaty smokiness – a whisper of Islay whisky – and some creamy notes. With all the savoury complexity, this sits on a solid frame of ripe fruit, with the salty detail cresting a wave of richness through a dry and endlessly long finish.

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Literally translated as ‘under a veil’, sous voile is a method of maturing wine where the barrels are not topped, with a film of flor yeast developing on top of the wine. This ‘veil’ protects the wine from oxidation, while converting the acids to aldehydes, which give dry Sherry its characteristic nutty and briny notes. The same process is employed in France’s Jura region to make the famous Vin Jaune (literally, yellow wine).

Savagnin

Best known for the wines of the Jura in France’s north-east, savagnin was introduced to Australia as somewhat of a stowaway. The first vines were planted at a time when vine cuttings were mislabelled, with plantings of what was thought to be albariño correctly identified as savagnin in 2009. While at the time this was of real consternation to growers, a subsequent interest in the wines of the Jura has seen that accident reframed as a somewhat happy one.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula wine region is somewhat of a latecomer, with ongoing commercial production not taking hold until the 1980s. But it has blossomed somewhat since then. Now boasting over 200 vineyards, with 60-odd wineries and over 50 cellar doors, the Mornington Peninsula specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, while also staking a claim to some of the country’s best pinot gris.

NV The Other Wine Co. ‘Savagnin № 2’ Fleurieu

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Savagnin

Fleurieu

The Leko range is the brothers Koerner’s foray out of the Clare Valley and into the Adelaide Hills, where Damon now lives with his young family. It is also the location of their new winery. This is a savagnin-led blend with some more familiar Hills varieties, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc.

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Savagnin

Pinot gris/grigio

Sauvignon Blanc

Adelaide Hills

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Savagnin

Sous voile/flor yeast

McLaren Vale

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Macvin

Sous voile/flor yeast

Savagnin

Mornington Peninsula

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Sous voile/flor yeast

Savagnin

Mornington Peninsula

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