L.A.S. VINO
— Portfolio —
ALBINO PNO 2022
Pinot + Chardonnay blend
Bottle shot
“Strawberries + cream in a bottle” that sees Pinot Noir (off skins) and Chardonnay (80/20 split) fermented separately in barrel + full malolactic with oodles of lees stirring. Looks like a light Rose/pinot Gris, tastes like a barrel fermented white.
The bottling continues to champion Nic’s vision of ‘strawberries and cream’ with this wine, but each year he likes to ‘tinker’ with the blend. The Pinot Noir comes from a lovely vineyard in Wilyabrup from some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the region, now over 40 years old. 80% Pinot Noir with 20% Chardonnay Hand picked, hand sorted, lightly cold pressed as whole bunches to tank to settle. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were fermented separately in barrique. Wild fermented and straight through malolactic, lees stirring, 10 months in barrel. No new oak used. The varietals then blended and bottled with no fining and a light filtration.
CBDB CHENIN BLANC 2022
Cert. Organic & Biodynamic
Bottle shot
Hands down the wine of the release in 2022. Nic’s balance of using 75% Barrel + 25% Amphora in the winemaking is fantastic this year. Single site Chenin Blanc from a certified biodynamic vineyard, No malolactic, fortnightly battonage, 10 months elevage.
Chenin Blanc Dynamic blend. This wine in former vintages was a blend but for the past few years has been 100% Chenin Blanc. They kept the name as the dynamic part refers to the 100% biodynamic vineyard he sourced the fruit from, one of the very few Biodynamically farmed vineyards in Margaret River.
The fruit was hand picked and showed varied levels of ripeness through the vineyard and crop, chilled overnight and hand sorted prior to being lightly cold pressed as whole bunches. The juice was left to naturally settle prior to a wild fermentation in mature French barriques and amphorae . 75% in barrel, 25% in Amphorae. No malolactic fermentation and fortnightly lees stirring prior to being bottled with no fining and a light filtration.
“One of my go-to chenins because it delivers on so many levels, especially deliciousness. A slightly richer rendition this vintage with quince and all manner of stone fruits, luscious, refreshing and lively thanks to its acidity, but this is textbook texture. There’s also a saltiness, in a good way, like preserved lemons and sea spray with pear skin-like phenolics, plus some spicy ginger powder and even pepper. Mouth-watering all the way through.” – 95 Points – Jane Faulkner – Wine Companion
A new wine in 2022 to the LAS Vino line up. Key difference vs the CBDB is it’s 100% fermented in barrel sourced from two differing vineyards and wine goes through partial malolactic (CBDB is a single site/no malo/part amphorae recipe). It also has just a dash of Chardonnay (3%) and Sauvignon Blanc (3%) that Nic uses for complexity and character.
The fruit was hand picked from three different plots across two vineyards.. The fruit was chilled overnight and hand sorted prior to being lightly cold pressed as whole bunches. The juice was left to naturally settle prior to a wild fermentation in French barriques. A partial malolactic fermentation on some barrels and fortnightly lees stirring prior to being bottled with no fining and a light filtration.
‘BARRELS OF METRICUP’ CHARDONNAY 2021
Bottle shot
Mature vines grown in sandy loam soils with a clay subsoil. Hand picked, chilled, hand sorted, whole bunch pressed and fermented naturally in barrique. Acids from the 2022 vintage were naturally high so the wine went through a full malolactic fermentation with fortnightly lees stirring to provide additional complexity and structure. The wine spent 10 months in barrique (20% new) prior to blending and bottling.
‘BARRELS OF METRICUP’ CHARDONNAY 2022
Bottle shot
20 to 25 year old Gin Gin clone hand picked, whole bunched pressed, barrel fermented, full malolactic Margaret River Chardonnay. 20% new barrels (Damy & Stockinger). Classical style from LAS Vino and we love it.
Mature vines grown in sandy loam soils with a clay subsoil. Hand picked, chilled, hand sorted, whole bunch pressed and fermented naturally in barrique. Acids from the 2022 vintage were naturally high so the wine went through a full malolactic fermentation with fortnightly lees stirring to provide additional complexity and structure. The wine spent 10 months in barrique (20% new) prior to blending and bottling.
‘WILDBERRY SPRINGS’ CHARDONNAY 2022
Bottle shot
‘Purity’ is Nic’s favourite descriptor for this wine and apt given the wine making approach. 80% of this wine is fermented in Amphora with the remainder in Damy & Stockinger barrels so expect tension + elegance vs weight + richness. Perhaps not your typical expression of Margaret River Chardonnay but wonderfully delightful nonetheless and frankly in keeping with Nic’s LAS Vino approach to making wines from this region. For traditionalists/lovers of barrel fermented MR Chardonnay see his Barrels of Metricup’ bottling.
30 to 35 year old vines, Gin Gin Chardonnay clone from Wildberry springs vineyard in Willyabrup. As Nic highlights he begged for several years to get the opportunity to pick fruit from this vineyard and just loves the site and what it expresses.
The fruit was hand picked, chilled overnight and gently pressed as whole bunches with only the free run juice fermented. The wine was racked off sediment to ferment in quartz amphora of different size and shape. These difference in shape and size provide complexity in fermentation kinetics and resulting flavour. The wine matured in vessels for 10 months where it went through a partial malolactic fermentation with regular lees stirring prior to blending. The wine was not fined but went through a light filtration prior to bottling.
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2021
Cert. Organic & Biodynamic
Bottle shot
Normally most MR Cabernet Sauvignon has a touch of Merlot or other Bordeaux varietals in the blend despite being labelled as a single varietal and nothing wrong with that, in fact Nic readily comments that you need a little something to complete a Cabernet bottling. As the vineyard is only Cabernet Sauvignon to add his own complexity he ferments in barrel (whole berry) plus keeps a couple on skins for 12 months as opposed to blending in other varietals.
The fruit was hand picked and cooled, followed by bunch and berry sorting by hand. This led to an almost black caviar appearance of fruit in the fermenters. The fruit was naturally fermented as whole berries in large format barriques for 20- 30 days. Plunged by hand and left to ferment at ambient cellar temperature with skins and seeds for 20-30 days prior to pressings direct to same barrels in which it fermented. Matured in large format barrels (10% new) with a small proportion of the wine being left on skins for 12 months for depth and favour. The wine was then settled naturally in tank for 3 months prior to bottling with no fining and a light filtration.