2024 LOOSEBRAIN

Deep golden in the glass, with a whiff of pink grapefruit and subtle flavours of black tea and green apricots. It closes with a round, oily mouthfeel that makes the whole thing a little bit like sitting on the couch watching a summer storm break the heat of the day through the window. 

• Handpicked Viognier from Sunbury

• 6 Day carbonic Maceration

• Gentle Basket Press to stainless

• Wild ferment

• 21 month elevage on full solids

• No sulphur or additives of any kind, at any stage

• No fining or filtering

TMI

Each time we tasted this tank of Viognier over the last 2 years it has caused plenty of discussion amongst the POOL crew . It's gone through periods of "yuck", "weird" and "definitely not ready" but the only constant remark has been "interesting". It has always had this extremely strange characteristic that we haven't been able to link to a flavour or texture of any wine we've had. Not confident that it was an enjoyable characteristic, we held off on further processing or bottling the wine as it seemed to be travelling through its various stages with gusto and we were excited to see where it would end up. 

*skip or indulge me*

Sitting at a large table enjoying an end of harvest lunch at Le Mazel in Valvigneres in late 2025 amongst some of our winemaking idols I (Tim) had a sip of Gerald and Jocelyne's Viognier and was hit with the exact "interesting" feeling I got from our tank of Viognier.

It's hard to taste through the tanks and barrels at the winery, so out of context to how the wine will ultimately be enjoyed, but I am now filled with pride and confidence in this wine as it takes its first steps out of the winery. This is a wine that will enhance any situation but can confirm it goes down very well with fresh cantaloupe and prosciutto aged for 4 years in Anders' Cellar (optional) and a smile bigger than the one you had on your wedding day.