Chalmers Nero d’Avola

Chalmers Nero d’Avola is bright, juicy and fruit forward with lifted violets, berry compote, cherry jubes and a cranberry crunch. A wine designed to be drunk in its youth but will build complexity with some moderate time in bottle evolving to include earthy, savoury campfire characters, still present at a young age but amplified with some careful cellaring. A social red wine in casual gatherings pairs beautifully with BBQ lamb skewers or even some charred flatbread with labna and Za’atar.

Harking from Sardinia, Nero d’Avola was one of the first varieties we imported to Australia in the early 2000’s, it’s a variety that has found not only a new home in our Heathcote vineyard, buy a home to many more wine regions around Australia for its suitability to perform exceptionally well in warm climates. Grown in the top block of our Heathcote vineyard, the soils here are complex and rocky, giving a more mineral reflection and bright perfumed fruit profiles while still retaining its inheritary savoury undertow.

Hand picked, destemmed and whole berry fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks to retain the bright juicy characters of Nero d’Avola. The wine is pressed off skins once dry to gain optimal drinkability and left on fine lees for 6-10 months.