“Let the sun burn my eyes
Let it burn my back
Let it burn through my thighs
I’ll feel wide wide open
You’re never gonna stop me…
King of the Beach”
With this Wavves melody stuck in his head, Louis set out to make a fun win that is easy-drinking and delicious, like something you’d want to sip on the beach in your birthday suit. With Nero d’Avola from the Leask Family’s Sand Road vineyard, he succeeded. It’s a fun wine, but the grapes are grown with extreme care. “This is an absolutely stellar site for this variety, managed so thoughtfully and carefully with emphasis on regenerative agriculture and biodiversity,” says Louis. The 2022 vintage is slightly more powerful than before, jumping a percentage and a half in alcohol and yet retaining zingy acidity.
Fermentation was carried out entirely whole cluster, and after 14 days of daily foot trodding to build Italian-esque tannins, the wine was pressed from the withered clusters. The wine aged for 5 months in neutral oak, and then bottling followed with just a touch of sulfur. No filtering or fining.