The cool 2023 season has delivered a wine of elegance, with exceptional fine tannin. The Kin Grenache feels energetic and floral, but give it time and red fruit, blood orange and cardamon will present. A patch of vines on limestone provides vibrancy and definition, necessary for the wine’s drive, with flesh and power from Blocks 22 on clay and 18 on schist.

Alkina is a new story on an old place. Our certified organic and biodynamic farm sits on the traditional lands of the Ngadjuri people and we seek to honour the land’s Indigenous history and to learn from their deep connection to country. We have 43 hectares of vines planted to Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro and Semillon, with the oldest vines dating from the 1950s.

Fruit for the 2023 Grenache is made up of three blocks. Block 22, planted to bush vines in 2016, is located on the east to west ridge of the property, making up 42% of the wine. Picked in two parcels; the limestone component on 18 March and the clay component, a week later. Block 18, picked 17 March, from vines on clay and schist makes up 50% of the wine, with the remainder from Block 25.

Even though 2023 will generally go down as a cool, wet and challenging year, we’re delighted with the results. Freshness and purity are hallmarks of the vintage. Our healthy organic vineyard showed its resilience against mildew and other dangers and the late start to the season meant flavour and sugar ripeness dovetailed nicely. Most of our fruit came in over an intense 11 day period in late March before the weather turned cold and wet again.

Each block was hand-picked, sorted and naturally fermented as 100% whole bunches in concrete tulips. After spending an average of 35 days on skins, the bunches were gently pressed back to concrete and matured on full lees. Each component was matured separately before being racked off lees and blended 4 weeks before bottling.