Barney Flanders has the touch with Pinot Gris, delivering mouthwatering pure wines with texture, structure and balance time after time. He’s the first to admit that this grape can tend towards the one-dimensional, but “it’s a variety that’s open to manipulation”, he tells us. “If you play around with skins and lees, it can be pretty exciting.” From a north/northeast-facing site in Merricks with 25-year-old vines, Barney sorts first in the vineyard and then in the winery. Three-quarters of the fruit was pressed as whole bunches to old barrels with full solids and kept on lees while the remaining 25% fermented on skins for three weeks. Maturation was in old oak for seven months.
The 75% whole bunch method plays to the variety's strengths, capturing stone fruit and floral perfume, whereas the time on skins contributes spice, red fruits, colour and a detailed tannin structure. It’s not an easy balance to strike, but Barney does so with aplomb. In terms of style, it would do the wine a disservice to categorise within the generic Gris/Grigio frame; suffice it to say, it’s made in a pure-fruited, medium-bodied style that takes its inspiration from Burgundy rather than northern Italy or Alsace. Again, terrific value here.