Paraphrasing Del Boy, the fun-loving duo behind First Drop describe this as “fabrique belgique”. Mere et Fills is authentic French Chardonnay – brimming with cashew nut, cantaloupe, apple pie and cream, poached pear, tropical fruit, marzipan and a wisp of smoke – it just happens to be made in Australia.

As the name of this wine suggests, First Drop love their mums. So, they made Mere et Fils in a classic style that their mothers would enjoy. Turned out that everyone loved it, so it became a permanent fixture in their repertoire. The grapes come from their mate Simon’s vineyard in Adelaide Hills, and it’s a cracker with rich and creamy dishes, or a simple dinner of baked goats’ cheese with pineapple salsa.

In stark contrast to the previous year, the growing season started in the middle of a wet year. Annual rainfall was 150% of the long term average, with winter rainfall at 143% and spring rainfall at 198%. The resulting wet soils, combined with a cooler than average spring and early summer meant the vines grew slowly but healthily, and flowering/set was good. With few heat spikes in January and some timely rain events in February, March heralded the beginning of an Indian summer that lasted through to late April. All these conditions lead to slow, but perfect ripening and a vintage reminiscent of 2002. 2017 may be a prime vintage in both senses of the word.

Simon’s vineyard is near Woodside in the central Adelaide Hills – 400m above sea level on clay with shale and quartz.

The fruit is crushed as soon as it arrives at the winery and the juice drained off immediately to tank (50%) and French oak puncheons (50%). Fermented by indigenous yeast strains to dryness, and matured sur lie with weekly batonnage for 6 months. This wine was filtered and bottled in December 2017.

Set up by Essex boy Matt Gant and South Australian John Retsas (the latter taking sole ownership of the company in June 2021), First Drop is part winery and part frivolous merrymaking in a ginormous warehouse abandoned by Penfolds. The brand crafts grapes grown by their friends into fun-loving and easy-going wines with remarkable distinction and texture. They also do this without using animal products in the fining process, making the entire range vegan friendly.