A seriously sassy take on savagnin

Savagnin is the rare grape variety used in the famous vins jaunes (yellow wines) made in the Jura region in France.

There is a fair bit of savagnin planted around Australia - quite accidentally as the original clippings were believed to be the Spanish grape albarino. The grape should not be confused with sauvignon blanc, which is a very different beast. 

Savagnin is made in various styles Down Under but Yarra Valley producer Soumah is really pushing the boundaries with its recent release: Soumah Solero Method Wild Savagnin No.3.

"It is enjoyable to keep honing mainstream varieties but sometimes taking the road less travelled leads to surprising terrain with leaves you wanting more," says the Soumah team, led by winemaker Scott McCarthy.

Savagnin is an ancient variety which can be tracked back to the 10th century, where it was established in the Alpine regions of northern Italy.

"Inspired by original winemaking techniques, we decided to hand-ick and foot stomp some small parcels of savagnin before fermenting the juice in clay eggs with indigenous yeasts with full solids - potentially mirroring historical methods of production," says Dmitiri Lazariuc, Soumah's director of sales.

The Solero system sees vintages "laid over each other" and their are wines from five different years in the Solero No.3, starting with 2015, in an effort to add depth and intensity.

"We contend that there would not have been a concept of 'vintage' wine in the first millennium, so the practice of layering different vintages was probably widespread."

So a thoroughly modern wine made using ancient techniques - and with an end result that is far removed from the oxidative style of vin jaune.

This has freshness to complement the personality, intensity and subtle funk.

My notes: A kaleidoscope of flavours and textures but a wine that is very chilled out. Citrus and nuts on the nose; stone fruits and bright acid on the palate. A cool dude whose just had a good smoke. 

Soumah, Solero No. 3 Wild, Yarra Valley, Victoria NV. $110. See www.soumah.com.au.

In the pink. Brachetto proves a success for Soumah

The brachetto grape is very much a bit-part player in the diverse and colourful theatre of Italian wine.

Brachetto is a red wine grape grown primarily in Piedmont that dates back to Roman times and Brachetto d'Acqui is made in in both still and spumante versions.

Brachetto tends to produce light-bodied, aromatic wines with distinctive notes of candied ripe strawberries. In Brachetto d'Acqui it produces a slightly sweet sparkling wine that can be similar to Lambrusco, and has been called a red equivalent of the sweetish white Moscato d'Asti. 

In recent years, brachetto has found a home at Soumah Wines in the Yarra Valley, where they produce both a still and a frizzante (gently sparkling) version that are both defiantly pink in colour. 

I tasted both with my tasting group this week and the reaction was largely - but not uniformly - positive. 

Both wines are low in alcohol and offer brightness, freshness and delightful summer refreshment when enjoyed lightly chilled. 

The 2020 Brachetto Frizzante ($28) is described as like "liquid Turkish delight with the sweet flavours of rose water and strawberries". 

My favourite, although only marginally, was the 2020 Brachetto Tranquillo ($32) - a lovely aperitif or dessert wine with a very similar flavour profile. Pair it with a summer tart. 

Pizzini, Parish Hill and La Fattoria  are among the other Australian producers of brachetto.  

For details see https://soumah.com.au/