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Producer
Yangarra -
Region
McLaren Vale
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RRP
$27
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Vintage
2025
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Variety/Varieties
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Alc./Vol.
12.5%
The southern French variety piquepoul is a relatively recent arrival to this country, but its future here looks bright ā with its ability to retain fresh acidity in warm climates and its tendency towards low alcohol levels, it can make light, vibrant white wines in places better known for boozy bruiser reds. McLaren Valeās Yangarra were early adopters of this variety, and their 2025 release showcases their ability to build complexity within its framework.
Tasting note
Aromatically, this is all about freshness: a relatively reticent nose of snow pea tendril, lemon zest, farmhouse cider, and sea spray, with a herbal hint of fennel seed, soft dill fronds and river mint. The palate is bright, light, and crisp ā ultra-light in body, with rippling, salivating acidity and a long finish framed by salty minerality. Thereās also an appealing phenolic note of Granny Smith apple skin on the finish to add complexity, and some judicious lees work adds just enough creamy texture to keep the wine from becoming too lean. While many piquepouls from both France and Australia are simple quaffers built to wash down seafood, this wine offers surprising depth and length ā proof that Yangarra have quickly mastered how to grow and make this promising climate-apt variety.
Themes of this wine
Piquepoul
Meaning something like ālip stingerā in southern French dialect, piquepoul (sometimes spelled āpicpoulā here) produces very zippy, light dry whites, principally from the Languedoc and most famously from the shores of the Ćtang de Thau lagoon near the village of Pinet. Itās a wine that is ideally suited to the seafood from both the Ćtang de Thau and the Mediterranean coast just beyond that. In Australia, plantings are fledgling, with both Yangarra and Coriole making notable expressions and interest in the variety building in the Barossa Valley. Flavours generally sit in the apple and yellow-skinned citrus zone, with low alcohols and elevated acidity being hallmark characteristics.
McLaren Vale
While it couldnāt feel any more removed from city life, the McLaren Vale wine region is inside Adelaideās metropolitan area. And although the township itself is only forty 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 countryās most beautifully pristine beaches, as well as some of the worldās most forward-thinking grape-growers and winemakers. And with over eighty cellar doors, it is an essential destination for wine lovers ā and anyone else, for that matter.
Biodynamics
An organic farming method created by Rudolph Steiner in the 1920s, biodynamics is a slightly mystical approach, employing elaborate organic āpreparationsā to restore the natural balance of the soil and encourage microorganisms. It also observes the lunar cycle to prescribe actions in the vineyard and winery. Why some of it works is not clearly understood, but it is used by some of the worldās greatest producers.
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