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Sure, you’ve tried ringing in every new year for as long as you’ve been legally permitted to, of course, with champagne. But consider this: what could be more ‘2019 cusp’ than ushering in a new year with a sparkling coupe of Nat Daddy?
In the year that ‘daddy’ (and its derivative, ‘zaddy’) firmly entered the popular lexicon en masse and natural wine along with it, its seems only fitting that you should see off the grimmest year to-date with a drop – made from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Vermentino, Shiraz and Grenache – that’s utterly perfect for a balmy night of partying away your woes.
Failing that, consider instead a sparkling Riesling from Ravensworth, an international award-winning vineyard just outside of Canberra (that has won many a medal for its perfect ‘still’ Riesling), that is tailor made for long, hot summer nights. Or perhaps a Malvasia (a Mediterranean varietal) that has spent two months on skins in stainless steel before being pressed back into stainless for another year of élevage (read: ‘maturation’) before bottling, where it awaits another four months prior to its release.
The latter comes courtesy of the winemaker Dane Johns at Memento Mori, a personal favourite and the only winemaker I’ve encountered who labels his bottles with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land on which he makes his exceptional wines – wines that, he says, first and foremost have respect for the living. Here’s hoping more can say the same in 2019.
Tile and cover image: Composite
