Sagrantino is the specail red grape variety of Umbria in Italy. It makes fruity juicy red wines with oodles of tannin and structure.
A few innovative Australian wineries are producing wines from this variety, and the results so far have been quite promising. You can find out more by checking out the Sagrantino Sessions events in McLaren Vale below.
List of australian wineries using Sagrantino can be found at http://www.vinodiversity.com/sagrantino.html
Banrock Station in the Riverland region produce wine from a number of interesting varieties. - Faino and Savagnin. These varieties will play a huge role in the future of Australia's wine industry so why not try some to see what the fuss is about.
At the moment Vinodiversity's wine supply partner has some of theie wine on special. A couple of offers caught my eye caught my eye.
They have Fiano and Savagnin, both 2009 vintage, on sale at the bargain price of Just $13.95 per bottle. Use the links below to check out the details.
http://www.vinodiversity.com/banrockfiano
http://www.vinodiversity.com/banrocksavagnin
Why not order one or a mixed case!
Myth 1. Durif is a Rutherglen variety
Durif is a best known by its Rutherglen connection. But of the 83 wineries in my database who make wine from Durif only 18 are in the the Rutherglen region. see Vinodiversity's page on durif in Australia
Myth 2. Durif wines are all big wines with high tannins
Not neccessarily! Don Crane of All Saints Wines likes to make more approachable styles. You can read his views in this article by Jeni Port from the Age Epicure on 12/07/11
For a counter argument about how to make wine from durif see this article by Andrew Sutherland Smith of Warrabilla wines/
Myth 3. Durif can only be used in warm climates
Vale wines in the Mornington Peninsula don't agree and they have the proof in a bottle. You don't often see the word elegant when people write about Durif. See the article Cool Climate Durif ? You must be kidding!
All Saints Winery in Rutherglen
