Grapes: Pinot Noir + Pinot Gris
Region: Mount Gambier, South Australia
Vintage: 2021
Viticulture: Organic
Vinification: Short maceration of both
Aging: 8-9 months in barrel
Fining or Filtering: None
Notes from the Importer: Wild strawbs sweetness checked by slightly savoury skinsy gris, it’s a friggen sunny afternoon crowd pleaser, no question.
labor practices – from Kyatt: I probably have less experience working with contract labour than most winemakers, choosing instead to work with friends and family in the winery and on the few small vineyards I manage. Money is of course an issue for everyone, and I believe that we should really think carefully about how and where we spend it. If I need help with something I focus on putting resources back into my community and to people with similar values (particularly when it comes to agriculture). If I need to, I prefer to work closely and slowly with one or two people so that together we can achieve specific goals and a level of quality from each block (for pruning particularly, but also picking). This attention to detail is critical in my approach to growing grapes. Organic viticulture, without the use of conventional fungicides, is a very risky business, particularly with the cool, wet conditions of Mount Gambier. Even in a good year our yields are low due to no (or in some cases very little) irrigation. In a bad year for disease some blocks can be completely wiped out. Keeping the vineyards as tidy as we can (cutting grass, immaculate pruning, removing water shoots) helps ameliorate these risks and reduces the need to spray for disease but is extremely labour intensive. To this end, we now employ one permanent part-time assistant through a local disability employment program who is paid the full award plus superannuation. While this may not be the most efficient or cost-effective way of growing grapes and making wine, walking through our blocks, surrounded by life in balance, immediately justifies this labour of love.
further notes from Kyatt –
Limus means “seaweed” in Bislama, the official language of Vanuatu, South Pacific. I was pretty into seaweed there for a while, and also pretty into coconuts, so spent a while on some remote South Pacific beaches getting to know the locals, their language and their seaweeds, hence the name. Now I make preservative-free (natural if you like, but I’m still getting my head around what this means to different people so prefer not to say it) wine with my partner Anna in the southernmost and easternmost part of South Australia, Mount Gambier, within the Limestone Coast, a region known mostly for its big dog Cabernet’s. Down in the “Mount” we do things a bit differently though. It’s a tiny region dotted with mostly miniscule blocks of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon blanc, which allows us to make wines from varieties we love and also organically farm the majority of our own fruit (right now we lease 5 small vineyards that cover 6 hectares of Pinot noir, Chardy, Riesling, Sauv blanc, Pinot gris and Cab sauv). The fruit that we do buy comes from organic or biodynamic vineyards within or close to the region to try to represent this unique little spot the best we can (and, well, I hate driving).
