2023 The Sharpest Thorn Nagambie Lakes Negroamaro Rosé

With much encouragement (insistence) from my Mum and younger sister, I decided to make my first rosé from sangiovese in 2019, as my favourite examples from Italy and Australia come from this. After two fantastic experiences with this grape, I was excited to try something different, so made a wine from the negroamaro grape grown at Box Grove Vineyard. Fruit was harvested much later this vintage; in fact, it was the last harvest of the year. Being so late I was concerned there would be too much colour in the skins, so we handled it very gently. The free run juice was fermented separately to the pressings, with a portion fermenting in a 750L Slavonian oak cask. Malolactic fermentation was halted, and the wine was racked several times to separate heavy lees. The wine was blended and bottled without filtering in September of 2023. There is a saying that goes something like, “the most beautiful rose can have the sharpest thorn”. Much like the name for my pinot grigio, the image I was attempting to convey was that though this is a lovely pretty and bright rosé it is dry and has a bit of bite to it. It also means that no matter how perfect something may seem there is always another side to it.