Red Wines

Playful | Bright, Juicy & a mountain of fun. Lightness all around. 
Sexy with Substance | Juicy, exciting, sex bombs. Medium all around. 
Bold | Deep, mysterious with more layers than a parfait. Full-tilt, full-on.

The BLANKBottle Winery

PSEUDONYM

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By The BLANKBottle Winery

RED | PLAYFUL
Another exciting take on one of our favourite grapes from Pieter Walser. We could tell you what it is here, but where would be the fun in that?

WHAT WE TASTE
Cassis, oregano and really ripe strawberries

PERFECT PAIRING
Smoked duck salad, bougie cheese toasties, cumin-spiced lamb
TEMP CHECK
Can stand a lil’ chill
ABOUT THE BLANKBOTTLE WINERY

So much of our approach to wine has been inspired by Pieter Walser and his BLANKbottle wines – where the bottles typically don’t show the varietal to avoid any preconceived ideas about what people think they like and don’t like when it comes to wines. “You can’t judge it by the label; it takes drinking a whole bottle to get to know the wine.” He also designs those labels.

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
While he doesn’t own any vineyards of his own, Pieter makes sure to work only with winegrowers who are farming with care, attention and intention; and he drives thousands of kilometers across South Africa every year to reach these people to source the exceptional fruit for his wines. Once the wines make it back to his cellar, Pieter is meticulous in his winemaking – not adding or removing anything…while sometimes also being a little off the wall.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
As with any of Pieter’s wines, it comes with a great story! The grower Pieter buys the grapes for this wine from, in an attempt to avoid his neighbour trying to steal his clients, invented a pseudonym for Pieter – he dubbed him the jam maker from Strand (where Pieter lives in South Africa).
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Darling, Western Cape, South Africa
Grape: Cinsault
Style: Serious fun
Ingredients: Grapes, minimal sulphur
Luddite Bold Red
Luddite

SABOTEUR RED

$430

By Luddite

RED | BOLD
A pretty serious red by people who are very serious about wine, good times and good laughs

WHAT WE TASTE
BBQ smoke, juicy cherries, black pepper

PERFECT PAIRING
Any beef or lamb dish you can think of, especially a BBQ, or end off the night pairing with mature hard cheeses
TEMP CHECK
When summertime hits, 20 minutes or so in the fridge can’t hurt
ABOUT LUDDITE

“A dope-smoking political anarchist meets an upstanding young goody-goody sportsman at a mutual friends 21st” – 35 years and 3 kids later, they are the family behind Luddite Wines. After a few years abroad, Niels and Penny returned to South Africa and found their plot of land in Bot River. Niels had a definite plan as to how he wanted to make wine and Penny knew that she wanted to farm as “green” as possible. Everything had to be about the wine. No intervention, no shortcuts and staying true to only bottling what, hand on heart was the best.

OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
At Luddite, everyone who works there gets together in the kitchen for coffee in the morning. Everyone is part of a team and not just a farm labourer. They have only replaced 3 staff in 18 years – all growing old together. It’s a happy farm and Penny’s motto has always been “never ask someone else to do something that you won’t do”
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Bot River, Overberg, South Africa
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Shiraz
Style: Full-tilt red with a bit of crunch
Ingredients: Grapes + as little sulphur as possible
Ottomani

SANGIOVESE AMPHORA

$420

By Ottomani

RED | SEXY WITH SUBSTANCE
A little taste adventure taking us back in time to old-school fermentation vessels

WHAT WE TASTE
Aged Comte, pomegranate, lavender

PERFECT PAIRING
Hard cheeses, big Italian sandwiches (try this wine on the Gambino from Fat Chads)
TEMP CHECK
Lightly chilled, please
ABOUT OTTOMANI

The story of Ottomani began with four friends who grew up together and turned a dream into reality. Not that far off from us girls at Crushed!

They graduated from the University of Florence with Oenology (that’s the science of wine) degrees and chose to separate for a while to get some exposure working in real wineries. With a few years of experience and some real savoir-faire in their back pockets, the boys came back together and purchased a farm of their own. In 2006, Ottomani was born with indigenous grape preservation and sustainability sowed into its mission statement.

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
They’re organic and biodynamic, they hand-harvest everything and don’t irrigate their vines. They’re working hard to preserve the biodiversity of the region by propagating traditional indigenous varieties like Ciliegiolo, Bonamico and Malvasi Nera (also known as Uva Rara – the rare grape). The wines are unfiltered & unfined. Anything they can’t produce themselves is sourced within a 20-kilometre radius of their farm.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
There’s something so romantic about wines that are fermented in amphora. The giant clay pots are reminiscent of simpler times when craft-made goods weren’t trendy, they were necessary. Cami’s father is one of few professional ceramicists left of his generation and so her love for the careful craft runs deep. We love this wine for its clean and lively palate as much as we love the old school art of building a fermentation house for where this juice grows into the wine in your glass!
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Grape: Sangiovese
Style: Fun & a little freaky
Ingredients: Grapes +  a super small splash of SO2
Ltd. + Wines

TROUSSEAU

$451

By Ltd +

RED | PLAYFUL
It’s kinda like Pinot Noir – but edgier

WHAT WE TASTE
Rhubarb, cranberry, Sichuan peppercorn

PERFECT PAIRING
Pizza pockets!
TEMP CHECK
Good after about 20 minutes in the fridge
ABOUT LTD +

Chad and Bree Stock, a husband-and-wife team, have merged their superpowers and unique backgrounds in wine to create Ltd. +, which emerged as a collaboration with farmers in the area, inspired to develop a diverse and sustainable wine landscape. The wines, often made from less common grape varieties adopting innovative techniques, are changing preconceived notions of Oregon wine.

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
Where do we start? The whole project is geared toward ensuring Oregon remains a viable wine-growing region through climate change. They’re not only encouraging growers to work with a more diverse spread of grapes that will weather the changing weather, but they’re also ensuring that seasonal workers are employed for longer because these alternative grapes ripen at different times. They’re also active supporters of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities in wine.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
This baby is also called Bastardo in Spain where its used to make Port, but the grape originally hails from the Jura region of France. Not that we’re one to follow ratings and awards but it was nominated for Decanter’s Wine of the Year and voted Best Trousseau outside of Jura.
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Grape: Trousseau
Style: Sassy & smashable
Ingredients: Grapes & minimal sulphites