Description
‘Someone asked me the other day something to the tune of ‘who are the next generation of newer generation producers who will truly create a legacy in Australian wine … I would put Ravensworth and Bryan Martin firmly in the list. No misses from him. Building a formidable argument to prestige.‘ Mike Bennie, The Wine Front.
‘As a talented food writer, cook and forager, Bryan Martin thinks deeply about textures and flavours. This combined with over a decade’s experience at Clonakilla, has resulted in a suite of distinctive Ravensworth wines’ Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine.
Bryan Martin was assistant winemaker and ‘right hand man’ to Tim Kirk at Clonakilla for 20 years. However Ravensworth has been he and wife Jocelyn’s passion since 2001. Finishing up at Clonakilla in 2019 he focuses solely now on Ravensworth in Murrumbateman in the Canberra district.
Clonakilla has often been thought as the leading winery in the region but Ravensworth has gained much success and critical praise including winning the International Riesling Challenge in 2012 and in 2015 he was runner up Winemaker of the Year for Gourmet Traveller Wine.
Martin’s approach is deliberately unconventional – he produces a range of brilliant, regionally classic wines, offset by a decent smattering of genre-bending experiments. Shiraz is the main crop on the Ravensworth Estate, followed by Riesling and Sangiovese. Then there’s Rhône white varietals such as Marsanne and Roussane plus Gamay and Nebbiolo. Not only does Martin use a wide range of varieties, but clonal differences across these are also utilised for complexity and tonality.
Everything at the Estate is grown with organic principles and the vineyard is consciously farmed as an element of a wider ecosystem in balance with other flora and fauna so it can develop to its greatest potential. This balance limits any chemicals or other nasties. A little old Italian tractor is employed rather than heavy machinery, and likewise in the cellar, the winemaking uses a light touch. There’s no recipe—a range of techniques and vessels are used, always dependent on what the vintage presents.
The Estate label wines feature a beautiful and evocative label which Bryan says “.. are a take on what we would have as a coat of arms … a visual depiction of how we see wine and food. Entwined, joyous, slightly nervy.”
About this wine: A blend of Viognier (40%), Marsanne (30%) and Roussanne (30%). Fruit is sourced from mostly 25-year-old vines grown on granite soils at 650 metres elevation. After skin contact for between four hours and a full day, the fruit was direct-pressed to demi-muids where it rested on lees for 12 months. It was then racked to 20 hectolitre foudre for a spell before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
95 points, Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion “It has all the texture and detail marsanne, viognier and roussanne bring via winemaking, yet a finer rendition this vintage. A lovely balance of stone fruit, quince, Japanese pickled ginger and a raft of warm spices. Slippery, light phenolics, a millefeuille of creamy lees and a savoury overlay make this a tip-top tipple. It shines more with food.”
94 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front “Perhaps one of Ravensworth’s best wines each year, or one with highest interest. Cool as. That puckering texture! It’s a delight. Honey nut cornflakes, green apple, lime, halva, green herbs and pink grapefruit tang through it. That chew is delicious. The wine is fragrant, lots going on, it’s a treat to drink and feels destined for dinner tables, coming alive with food. Drinkability is through the roof and quiet complexity in tow.”
RRP $53 *Our Price $48.99*
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