By David Ellis from vintnews.
To mark the company’s 20th vintage, winemaker Peter Logan has released a very special 2016 Pinot Gris from his Logan Wines at Orange in NSW’s Central West.
The Pinot Gris is very special because firstly this wine has an unusual orange hue to it as the grape skins were included in the fermentation process, something that is normally done only with red wines not with whites, and secondly because he’s named it Clementine – after little daughter of he and wife Hannah (who is also Logan Wines’ General Manager.)
“We named it Clementine because like its namesake this wine has a vibrant spark to it, it’s a little unorthodox, makes an impression, demands your attention, is pretty, plus it’s also complex and it puts a smile on your face,” said Peter.
Peter also goes on to say that including the skins in the ferment has given this Pinot Gris a fuller range of complex flavours than normal, a tang on the palate, and a crunchy finish from the tannins released into the wine from the skins.
“The flavours are more savoury than traditional Pinot Gris, and with the tannin cleaning the palate it makes for a great drop with a charcuterie board or cheese platter,” Peter adds; and we like it too for its good-value price tag of $22.
One to Note: New Zealand’s quirky-named Squealing Pig has released its first ever Syrah, from the 2015 vintage in Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of the country’s North Island.
The country’s oldest wine region dating back to 1851, Hawke’s Bay enjoys plenty of sunny days, and a particularly warm 2015 vintage resulted in fruit that year with great concentrations of flavour and ripeness, and resultant wines of wonderful elegance.
Red berries and dark cherry fruit flavours, coupled with dusty tannins in this 2015 Squealing Pig Syrah, make for it being a great match alongside lamb loin chops topped with a fennel relish. Pay $26 at Vintage Cellars.
