Blackcurrant, Black Olive, Horopito + Cacao Sparkling Wine with a dash of Strawberry Brandy

Tasting Notes

A lovely dark red wine.  Despite the froth on opening (please open slowly and with caution, fortunately, it is a screw cap!) the bubbles are not persistent in the glass but you do still get a nice spritz on the palate.  Smell wise, it does in fact smell quite like Ribena.

Are you ready for my most unprofessional tasting notes yet?

It's really yummy!

😂 OK, here we go; Lush mouthfeel, not too sweet, not too acidic, tannins sit nice and fine, as mentioned above, there's a slight sparkle on the tongue.  Goes down a treat with fruity blackcurrants first, dark chocolate in the middle and a wee kick of brandy at the end.

Judging from its reception at last weekends market, I don't think this wine will stick around for long, so I'd get onto it if this sounds like your glass of wine.

Winemaking Notes

New Zealand grown blackcurrants, dried black olives (product of Greece), horopito leaves (from our property) and cacao husks (sustainably sourced from the Pacific) were all put together and made into a big fat tea essentially, mushed together and left to macerate for four days (December 2024). 

Taken off the skins and herbs, the yeast was pitched and then this baby took its own sweet time in fermenting to where it wanted to go; by July I realised it wasn't going to go any further despite my cajoling. 

It was sitting at 11% abv which frankly wasn't enough for me and I just so happened to have some strawberries macerating in brandy at the time.  So I put in just enough to bring it up to 14% but not enough to turn it into a port and not enough to halt fermentation if it wanted to continue that journey in the bottle.... Which it did, and abracadabra, we have a sparkling wine!

• 14% ABV
• Sulphite free
• Vegan + gluten free