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Poppelvej

2022

‘Zoonotic Spillover’

Mourvèdre   |   McLaren Vale - Australia
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

This wine, ‘Zoonotic Spillover,’ débuted in 2020 and rightfully takes its name from finding humor in the lowest of times to try and help the wine world climb out of its depressed state.  He decided to take a literal approach to a theoretical cause of COVID-19, the unlikely zoonotic spillover.  Continuing on with the legacy of this wine Uffe again worked with the Paeroa Vineyard, which is also the source for ‘Dead Ohio Sky’ Rosé.  The typically feral nature of Mourvèdre gets a bit of a light-hearted approach here with a bit of semi-carbonic fermentation.  The Mediterranean-like climate of the Whites Valley of McLaren Vale brings higher tones to this maligned grape.

The fruit was hand-harvested in late-February and the fruit was left fully intact and fermented outdoors in large plastic fermenters with a lot of foot stomping.  Fermentation occurred naturally across ten days and after another four days the fermentation was pressed directly to old French 300L barrels for maturation.  Five months later the wine was racked to tank to settle naturally and bottled without fining or filtration and with just a small addition of sulfur.

Stats

  • Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre
  • Vineyard: Paeroa Vineyard - Whites Valley
  • Vine Age: 27-years-old
  • Soil Type: Alluvial clay with ironstone rocks
  • Viticulture: Practicing organic – dry-farmed
  • Fermentation: Native – one-ton open-top plastic fermenters (100% whole-cluster)
  • Skin Contact: 2 weeks
  • Aging: 5 months in neutral French 300L barrels
  • Alcohol: 12%
  • pH: 3.42
  • Total Acidity: 6.05 g/L
  • Total SO2: 18 ppm
  • Total Production: 208 cases

Tasting Note

Dark, but translucent ruby in color.  The nose has that Mourvèdre gamey thing going, but with bountiful amounts of purple and red flowers and covered in a tart raspberry and cherry sauce.  The palate has rich texture but is still light to medium-bodied with great crunchy acid to balance the immense amount of juiciness here.  This is more than just a juice bomb though and there is some real complexity as tertiary notes emerge with air and the finish shows lightly grippy tannins begging for some food with fat.

Press & Reviews

The Wine Front

92

"Very aromatic, rich scents of mulberry, boysenberry, violets and exotic spices. Tightly wound in the palate, fine, lacy yet firming tannins shape the wine well, there’s a good sense of energy here and lifted feel. Great flavour, intensity and yet huge sense of freshness. Delicious and somewhat fancy drinking!"

- Mike Bennie
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Producer


Poppelvej

Region


McLaren Vale

Country


Australia

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