2023 - Our Mate - Riesling

Skin Contact Riesling
Frankland River
1571 Bottles Made
11.2% ABV

In 2022 we were pining the loss of a regular release from chief Weirdo Sam Jorgensen’s
other label Old Mate Wine – which had been on ice since the inception of Local
Weirdos... We decided to get Sammy to fashion a Skin Contact Riesling that would fill
the It’s Lit sized hole in all of our hearts. For the uninitiated Old Mate Wine specialised in
turning Frankland River Riesling into sometimes fun, sometimes serious and sometimes
seriously-bloody-serious orange wine – usually with the help of extended time on skins
and his trusty qvevri that he had brought over from Georgia.

The overnight trip to the Swinney’s Powderbark Vineyard in Frankland River, which is
quickly becoming a cherished part of the annual vintage, saw us armed with an esky of dry
ice to retain the fruit quality on the drive back up, one of many incremental improvements
we implemented. We also opted for machine harvested fruit because the harvester they
have sorts the berries as it picks them to remove anything.

Once we arrived back in the Swan Valley the fruit was crushed and allowed to ferment on
skins at ambient temperature (mid 30’s at that time of year) to get the full benefit of a
balance between phenolic and aromatic extraction. It was pressed to Stainless tank after
about a week. After 9 moths in tank we racked it to seasoned oak puncheons to integrate
the powerful phenolics a little.. Bottled about 4 months later without even a hint of added
sulphites.

Along with the blossom there is chamomile, jasmine and marmalade on the nose. The
palate buzzes with a lime tonic acid and just restrained enough quinine bitters finish,
melded with some exquisite textural almond meal on the mid-palate from the extended
time on lees.’

The name ‘Our Mate’ is a homage to head winemaker and all-round legend, Sam.