2024 3 by Attwoods Pinot Gris, Victoria

Here is an antidote to the oceans of neutral, stripped-back commercial Pinot Gris. Twenty-four hours on its skins gives it a fetching blush and, more importantly, brings texture, grip and a little swagger to a grape that is too often polished into anonymity.

Made from Macedon Ranges fruit, it was wild fermented in barrel and matured for six months on lees, delivering orange peel and citrus tang, plenty of freshness and a fine, powdery grip running through it.

Fine-boned rather than flimsy, textured without becoming chewy, this is Pinot Gris with its collar slightly undone: bright, savoury, deliciously dry and very easy to keep drinking.

Open for Korean Bo-ssam, or try with African Chicken, a Macau-speciality with a baked crust of peanuts, coconut and spice.

About this producer

Attwoods is a boutique producer of premium wines established in 2010 by its winemaker Troy Walsh and his wife Jane, the couple partnering with John Livingston in 2018 to bring increased business acumen into their growing operation.

At the heart of the Atwoods wines are three labour intensive close-planted cool-climate vineyards in Victoria’s Ballarat and Macedon Ranges. The focus is on minimal intervention wines from Burgundian varieties, with Troy favouring early picking, whole bunches and indigenous yeasts, the reds fermenting in large open fermenters and the whites in barrels.

The 3 range of wines are made from fruit sourced mainly from well-managed, sustainable sites of other growers in central and western Victoria, with smaller inclusions from the Walsh vineyards in Macedon and Ballarat. The vibrant wines offered at more budget-friendly prices while receiving the same minimal intervention attention as the estate wines.