20 years ago, a lightbulb moment resulted in the creation of RedHeads by Tony and Tom Laithwaite. It was a no-gimmicks, no-rules cellar where young, talented (and rebellious) winemakers could moonlight and make small-batch wines that really rocked their boat. Growers started bringing in pick-up loads of their best grapes they wanted 'rescuing' from the mega-blends.
RedHeads winemakers began to gain a reputation as the ‘Robinhood of grapes’ – saving parcels to make into handcrafted wines. So popular, the cellar outgrew its original home and, for a few years, it moved from shed to shed. Finally it bought its own vineyard and built a state-of-the-art, off-grid, solar-powered eco winery. RedHeads by name, green by nature, with awards galore.
RedHeads is Aussie rebels leading the field! From the get-go, they've made small-volume, handcrafted wines from 'rescued' grapes. This is a cracker – Barossa, Clare, McLaren and Langhorne Creek. A palate-punching Shiraz.
This big, rich and spicy Shiraz celebrates the start of the eco march. A leading sustainable winery in the Barossa, RedHeads has sourced top organic grapes from Jock Bosworth and this is the fabulous result.
What RedHeads does best – searches out small parcels of fabulous quality grapes, brimful of flavour. Then they blend them, bit by bit, to handcraft a wine with abundant character and plenty of stylish panache. Our winemaker spotted these two unusual Spaniards on the Rocca's small family property in One Tree Hill, a tiny hamlet between the Barossa and Adelaide Hills. Not quite in the elevated part, it gets quite warm during the day, but there’s a cool draught from the Hills at night, which slows ripening and explains the amazing deep crimson hue of Vin’atus. Hand picked, destemmed and hand plunged (with effort!), and vinified in our traditional open-top fermenters, this is a hefty red, but velvet smooth. Ideal with lamb or rich bean stew.
Barossa style punchiness in this fruit, ripe Cabernet Sauvignon. Created by stellar winemaker Alex Trescowthick at the super-eco RedHeads winery, this rich Aussie red is brimming with glorious red fruits and smoky vanilla spice from oak aging.
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Renieri is owned by its grand neighbour, Marco Bacci's historic, much lauded Castello di Bossi. The same care goes into the wines of both estates. Renieri boasts 128 hectares of land, within which lie 30 hectares of vines, in the southern stretch of Montalcino. The prized vineyards for the Brunello all lie at 350 to 420 metres altitude, some of the highest in the appellation and were replanted in 1998 to meet the high specifications of the team. Meticulous work in the vineyards and ageing in a mix of small barriques and traditional larger botti barrels result in a wine of amazing power and bold, dense fruit, with the freshness and structure to enable it to age a couple of decades at least. Delicious now; will cellar magnificently.
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