Cloud Cuckoo Land
Riverland, SA
Another love child of Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW, their unbridled passion and enthusiasm for these alternative Italian grape varieties has been translated into a duo of great wines.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a classic 'Australianism' describing an imaginary state of absurd over-optimism. This name resonated with the winemaking team at Wild & Wilder, as they felt this was something they'd long been accused of! A classic example is their desire to make high-quality, low intervention wines made from Mediterranean varieties in the Riverland. A decade ago this would've been nigh on impossible, but these days viticulture and climate have combined to make this almost the norm in fine wine circles.
Hand-picked before gently de-stemming and crushing, Greco & Zibibbo were held on skins for 24 hours. Cool fermented separately followed by maturation on lees. It has a vibrant, texture with hints of almond blossom, quince and ripe pear. Tangy, almost exotic but pithy and delicious.
The Nero D’Avola was also hand-picked and Monte was machine harvested, both were wild fermented with gentle plunge downs twice daily. Gently pressed and matured in older oak for 5 months.
Vegan, sustainably made and of course packed with flavour. Great to see more vibrant expressions of Riverland fruit becoming top class wines!