WINEMAKING

A small winery has been constructed in a meticulously renovated old stone barn and here we vinify all of the Alkina wines. It is equipped with tulip shaped concrete fermenters and clay amphorae from Italy, a qvevri from Georgia and small concrete eggs from France. A small amount of larger and older oak barrels is also used.

Everything we do in the winery is designed to protect the integrity of the fruit and the source block or polygon. Winemaking is pared back so that the imprint of the winemaker is barely perceptible and we avoid what we think are the six enemies of terroir wine: over-ripening, over-extraction, invasive oak, synthetic chemicals, the winemaker’s ego and market-led winemaking. This is our interpretation of making the most ‘Barossan’ wine that we can.

We only use indigenous yeast for our ferments and have never had a commercial yeast or malo-bug brought onto the farm. Ferments start and finish naturally without any added enzymes. We are working hard to achieve balance in the vineyard and in the winery so that we don’t have to adjust acid levels in the reds (never in the whites), and are learning that each season will throw up very different conditions and behaviours to which to adapt. We do use high levels of whole bunches in our ferments, again depending on the season, which we feel helps to express character, as well as build complexity and savoury interest.