It was a 40-degree day in 2015 when my love for Spanish grape varieties solidified. I was in a one hectare plot of vines at Olivers Taranga in McLaren Vale picking grapes with winemaker Corrina Wright to help make Australia’s first mencía. As a sommelier, I already possessed a long-held affinity with what we affectionately dub “alternative varieties”. But this was the moment I realised how the vibrancy and innovation driven by the Australian climate combined with an under-the-radar Spanish grape could become something remarkable.
A few days later I was pantless in a fermenter crushing the grapes with my feet. The scent of gin and tonic botanicals and violets wafted around me, all expectation and
