Laissez Faire Field Blend, 2018

An elegant blend with an exotic but fresh symphony of citrus, passionfruit, mineral notes and rose water. Flavours of pear, nougat and Turkish delight are interwoven on the soft and refined palate with a long finish and subtle but lively acidity.

Meet the maker: Larry Cherubino

Region: Western Australia – Australia

Grape(s): Gewürztraminer (58%), Pinot Grigio (33%), Riesling (6%), Pinot Blanc (3%)

13% ABV / 750ml / Vegetarian / Vegan

Viticulture:

While inspiration has been taken from organics, biodynamics and natural winemaking practices, the Laissez Faire range could be called ‘natural wines’; Larry Cherubino likes to think of them as "post natural" wines.

Believing in healthy and sustainable vineyard practices, Larry grows all his own grapes and can account for their provenance and natural status. While copper is allowed in organic viticulture, minimal copper treatments are used here.

The irrigated vines were planted in 1998 in various vineyard sites, specifically chosen to suit the variety, given the aspect, microclimate and soil composition.

The vines are planted to a density of 1,600 vines per hectare, with various clones having been selected; they are all grown on their own rootstocks.

Winemaking:

Laissez Faire means "let it be" and this is reflected in the hands-off approach of winemaking.

As the name suggests, the grapes selected for this Field Blend were harvested at the same time and blended in the field.

The fruit was gently de-stemmed, then the parcels were allowed to ferment naturally on their skins for a period of five days.

No additives, sulphites, acids or enzymes were added during the vinification of this blend, with only minimal sulphur added at bottling.