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.
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.
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’).
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.
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.
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