In recent decades Sauvignon Blanc has become popularized for the style that is "unoaked, fruit driven, and into the glass as quickly as possible" (Jancis Robinson, 2012, Wine Grapes). Its history far preceeds that, most notably through barrel fermented and age-worthy styles that coined the term "Fumé Blanc". Grown at Coleman Road in Gumeracha at an elevation of 480m and a westerly aspect.
For wine nerds like me: High winter rains preceded a cold spring giving an extremely late vintage. Picked on the 24th of March, 8% fermented on skins, the remainder pressed and wild fermented in French oak puncheons. Matured for eight months in barrel, filtered and bottled.
1380 bottles produced.
Michael Hall Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2023
"Winemaking was a dream that grew over nearly 20 years, from my own wine epiphany in my early 20s."
I grew up in England with a dad passionate about French wine. We spent summer family holidays in the French provincial landscape touring around with a tent. The memories are rosy and much of it stuck. I lived in London in my 20s during the vibrant wine bar scene of the 1980s and, whilst I found work in the jewellery trade, much of my time and wages were spent discovering new wines.
But the next two decades passed building a career in jewellery valuation, climbing to the rarefied air of Sotheby’s in Switzerland, working with socialites, captains of industry, the occasional aristocrat and handling fortunes in precious jewels.
Burgundy and the Rhône Valley were just over the border and called to me. While jewellery was glamourous, this world of privilege wasn’t for me. At 40 years’ old I decided to bring my wine dream to reality. I applied for an Australian student visa and enrolled in Wine Science at Charles Sturt University, which I graduated dux in 2005.
It was a leap into the unknown, even though there are echoes of the meticulousness of my old work. There’s a resemblance between perceiving tiny distinctions of colour and purity in a gem and the multitude of nuances to be coaxed into a wine’s fullest expression – both of which can influence perceived value by many orders of magnitude. Recognising and championing these variations and subtleties can be the difference between a decent wine and a memorable experience.
I took advantage of the inverse hemisphere seasons and worked stints in Australia with Cullen, Giaconda, Henschke, Shaw + Smith, Coldstream Hills and Veritas; in France with Domaine Leflaive, Meo-Camuzet, Vieux Telegraphe and Trevallon. I then spent four formative years as winemaker for Barossa contract winemaker, Moppa Vintners.
Now, many years into my life in wine, I think one of its greatest appeals is the cultural connections I have made, working with gifted growers, exchanging ideas with passionate winemakers and sharing experiences with globetrotting cellar hands. I love the common language and the far-reaching community.
“Thoughtfully-produced wines, which provoke thought"
Rather than moulding the fruit to a style, I’m interested in passively crafting the wine with as few material inputs as possible: Hand picking, maceration, wild yeasts, lees contact, barrel maturation and no filtration. Allowing the season and site to show themselves. Slow wine.
I think about how the sun shone and the rain precipitated during the season. The influence of the growers and the many hands that tended, picked and sorted the grapes. The yeasts that occurred naturally and the signature of the coopers and their forests. Then those evolving bottles, being opened and shared at tables around the world. The connection the wine makes with passionately prepared food, evoking memories or creating a new and memorable experience for someone, perhaps thousands of miles from where the grapes ripened.
At its best wine is a communion of artisan and agriculture. There are hundreds of possible choices we should make in the winery to nurture nuance and complexity, but the wine is ultimately shaped by the site and the elements.