2023 Golden Child Island Life Sauvignon, Adelaide Hills

Golden Child has built a following for wines that feel a little less buttoned up, with winemaker James Hamilton working to capture the bright and expressive fruit available in the Adelaide Hills.

This barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc from the family vineyard in Kuitpo presents with fresh grapefruit and lemon aromas and a soft and creamy palate, with a clean, saline finish. Crisp and fruit-driven, with more body and texture and less of the overt zip of your typical Sauvignon.

Great wine for any grilled white fish and lemony salads with lots of herbs, maybe with some fresh goat’s cheese sprinkled in.

More about this wine

The fruit was de-stemmed and pressed directly into well-seasoned French oak hogsheads and puncheons for fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The aim with using oak is here for enhanced texture without noticeable oak flavours.

About this producer

Winemaker James Hamilton is according to his sister the Golden Child of their family. Based in the Adelaide Hills, their father David planted a vineyard in Kuitpo in 1997 with the help of Geoff Hardy, but fruit was mostly sold to other wineries until James had a go in 2016.

James’ style is very much about minimal intervention at the winery, with a light filtration and low dose of sulphur just before bottling most of the times the only things that could be mentioned as to manipulation. His wines are fresh, bright and ready to be enjoyed on release.