With the colour of arterial blood, the nose reveals wild berries, rhubarb and custard. The palate oozes strawberries and cream mixed with pink lemonade.
"Riddle me this... What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race? It’s “E” of course. The AB&D Enigma is a puzzle well worth solving, as a puzzle has many sides, only some visible at first, but the deeper you dig the more is revealed. Barbera is the grape variety here - thought to have originated in the hills of Piemonte, it’s high in acid, low in tannin, tricky in the vineyard, tricky in the winery, but by the beard of Zeus does it ever shape- shift into a soifalicious drink in the glass when all the panels of the vinous Rubik’s Cube align. Barbera you saucy, puzzling little minx."
Alpha Box & Dice were formed as a laboratory for viticultural exploration in 2008, as the team set up constructing a different wine style to represent every letter of the alphabet. Each member of the ‘Alphabet of Wine’ has its own unique personality that fulfils a different purpose – no two wines are created alike. AB&D wines are all linked by their environment and surrounding, being created holistically through minimal intervention, vegan friendly methods. However, they are completely distinct in their flavour, appearance and orientation. In this way, AB&D wines are just like a (mostly) happy family. With a culture soaked in community, quality and a laissez-faire spirit, Alpha Box & Dice will continue to inspire, delight and surprise in everything they do… and they do a lot!
"Championing the integrity and overwhelming quality of South Australian fruit"
Alpha Box & Dice's vision: Wines without boundaries – regional, varietal or stylistic. Wines whose entire raison d’être is to be delicious and to express the minutia and complexity of site and vintage conditions. Wines that enchant; wines that delight you and leave you betwixt the rock and ripe grape. Through a series of random experiments in the field and adventures in vinous bricolage, these are our modest goals.
Grapes are picked from the Bonoposto vineyard in Kenton Valley, Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. The soil is light red clay loam over granite. Hand harvested and split into two fermenters - one 100% whole bunch fermentation, the other completely destemmed. Both were fermented wild with plunging/footstomping for cap management. Gently basket pressed post fermentation and aged for 18 months in old puncheons, with one being a second-fill to give a delicate oak influence. Blended prior to bottling.
Try with gamey meats or pasta amatriciana.