2025 Juxtaposed Fiano, McLaren Vale

A pale gold in the glass with a slight haze. It’s a chewy, nutty, saline wine, with a freshly crushed apple juice feel to it. Heirloom apples, with farmhouse flavours and a burr of tannin. A pleasant grapefruit pith bitterness is hinted on the nose and confirmed by the palate, with a tussle between ripe fruit and savoury tension, the latter marginally on top, and to the good. Green apple, waxy, oxidative complexity, and a tang of brine on the finish. An interesting, engaging wine colouring outside traditional lines. Drink 2026 to 2029.

93 points Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

This 2025 Lacey Vineyard Fiano is mainly tank fermented with a handful of wild barrels which makes for a stylish and engaging style. Wafts of wild jasmine and apricot to start before some more savoury wild herb and dusty tones. Lovely weight with creamy acidity while flavours of fresh fruit salad and subtle chamomile build on the long, fine finish. A beautifully composed and impressive Australian Fiano expression that showcases the potential of this variety in McLaren Vale. Drink 2026 to 2029.

92 points Angus Hughson for Wine Pilot, February, 2026

A Canadian snowboarder who took a restaurant job in Whistler for thirteen years to keep his days free for the slopes — before wine took over entirely. A degree in wine biochemistry, an internship at Château Léoville Las Cases in Bordeaux and a PhD later, Wes Pearson arrived in McLaren Vale via an unlikely route in 2008 and now works as a Senior Sensory Scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute. Fancy. His label Juxtaposed launched in 2011 is the other side of his professional life: where the research world demands precision and process, the winery demands feel and instinct. The name captures both. A Len Evans Tutorial alumnus, Wes focuses on single vineyard Grenache and Shiraz from across McLaren Vale, sourcing from growers whose stories he considers as much a part of the wine as the fruit itself.

Fiano seems to have become the white variety that McLaren Vale has been looking for. One of the most interesting Italian white varieties, its natural acidity, textural grip and saline character suit the region's warmth in a way few white grapes manage.

The Lacey vineyard sits in Tatachilla, a subregion in the cooler southern reaches of McLaren Vale. Harvested slightly earlier than average in February to preserve freshness, the fruit was destemmed and pressed as whole berries, a deliberate technique that keeps the juice clean from the outset. Mainly tank fermented with a small addition of wild barrel ferments for complexity.

The 2025 sits at the fresher, more mineral end of the Fiano spectrum — green apple, grapefruit pith and wild jasmine on the nose with a waxy, saline thread and a farmhouse earthiness from the wild barrels. The palate is chewy and textural with creamy acidity, a pleasant phenolic grip and a long, briny finish that keeps pulling you back.

The wine's salinity and mineral tension suit anything from the sea: grilled octopus with lemon and olive oil, or linguine with clams and white wine.

Drink now through 2028.