The birth of this wine was accidental– in the same way that a successful rhinoplasty with a mallet would be. The intention was real, but the tools that nature provided were devastatingly unwelcome. Christmas Day 2004 witnessed a freak hailstorm that shredded our vines, and then four weeks later an F2 category tornado weighed in.
Having conceded the season already lost, we experimented a little. We reduced the paltry merlot yield even further in an attempt to emulate the northern Italian Reciotos, and produced a wine made from semi-dried berries... for which the Coonabarabran climate excels.
Winemaker Ken Borchardt, with the guidance of CP Lin (blind Pinot Noir specialist from Mountford Estate in New Zealand) then set about crafting the precious 1.8 tonnes into a mere 600 litres of wine. They employed subtle and aggressive yeasts, finesse and brute strength to vinify the thick, jam-like must. And after only three months in new French oak, a dark yet poised, beautifully textured wine, with ripe christmas pudding characters emerged. In this way disaster begot the Maelstrom.
