Wine for our Time: Organic, Minimum Wines
Interview by Jessica Humphries
We chatted with our old mate Matt Purbick (who you may remember from our recent waste-less interview) about his and Lentil’s latest venture, Minimum Wines.
Tell us about the inspiration behind Minimum Wines
Lentil and I have been making wine for as long as we've been doing Grown & Gathered. Always with friends. Always natural and organic. We just thought it was about time we made enough to share! We also wanted to inspire other wineries to convert their vineyards over to organic management, so we started converting a vineyard 4.5 years ago and we haven't looked back!
What do you love about wine, and what is unique about your own creations?
We are so stoked with the Australian wine scene at the moment. I grew up immersed in a very different kind of scene (my family has an old winery) which was elitist and colonial. These days that's all changed. The labels are colourful, the wines are juicy and unique, I don't think there's been a more exciting time for people to start drinking wine, and for us, the explosion of natural wine appreciation has really coincided with our own journey into winemaking commercially. We love wine that is fun and free and wild, something that gives you something you don't expect, something with depth. We like our wines to taste clean and elegant, but definitely not predictable. Most of all we love the mystery and magic of winemaking. When you let the ferments run wild and free as we do, you never know exactly what you're going to get. And so every wine is a gift. Every time it is new again.
Have you had any experience making wine in the past?
I grew up in a winery and have been watching and tasting ferments since I was a kid. The way my Dad makes wine is very different to how we approach it with Minimum, but I hope the energy we bring to winemaking and grape growing continues to inspire him to get more into organics and a lighter touch when it comes to the making. I've been loving making these wines in a bigger way, so turns out the family craft is more important to me than I thought! And it's now a big aim for us to continue to influence the old industry makers and growers to shift over to organics and wild-fermentation and see how much more sustainable their craft can be.
What has been your favourite part of the process?
Impossible to answer! We've just been hand-bottling barrels of our 'short runs' wines (very limited releases) and loving even that! So from pruning vines to harvest to fermenting to the follow up even to the bottling, I love it all. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to make these wines and feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what we do.
Can you tell us a little bit about the flavours?
Well, this really depends on the wine we're talking about! But as a rule, people can expect vibrant juicy wines, a little oak influence in our chardonnays and reds from time to time but just a light touch, a lot of depth and nuance to each wines flavour profile. Our whites are invariably citrusy and peachy, apply, herby, minerally. Our reds are usually very rich berry flavours especially raspberry and boysenberry. Our Hailstorm Special Pét Nat (named after the hailstorm that nearly knocked out the whole crop last December) is sherbety and yeasty like champagne. Our new dry rosé blend is an explosion of sea minerals and blackcurrant and yet is super dry and savoury. We hope that every one of our wines is incredibly unique to itself.
How are you integrating a zero-waste philosophy into the process?
This is an ongoing process very near to our hearts and one of the most profound themes we brought to the business from Grown & Gathered. Our aim would be that all of our packaging is compostable, but we bottle into glass so that's never quite going to happen! However at least everything is completely recyclable which we are very proud of. Our work in the vineyard is all about natural soil health and so we don't rely on external inputs. We've cut our water-use by nearly 70% with smart new watering technology and every year our vines get stronger and healthier from our organic practices so they then need even less water. We're sequestering loads of unmeasured carbon in our soils every year, plus we plant a tree for every dozen we sell, so along with our past tree planting efforts, we now sequester more carbon than we emit every year! We don't use plastics in our processes and seal our bottles with corks which is the most sustainable product on the planet! We don't think the planet needs to suffer when you take the time to consider your impact. In 2020, we humans have come up with an environmentally sound solution for pretty much everything. The only thing getting in our way is actually choosing that option. We will continue to choose the best option we can find, every time.
What are you looking forward to?
We are about to release our second range of wines which we're super excited about and can't wait to keep doing this year after year and bringing everyone tasty vegan, organic drops, wild-fermented, often unfiltered, and always as healthy for you and the planet as wines can get.