Gentle Folk "Rainbow Juice"

Grapes: Pinot gris + Gewurztraminer + Syrah + Chardonnay + Sauvignon blanc

Region: Basket Range, Adelaide Hills, Australia

Vintage: 2023

Viticulture: Organic

Soils: Sandy Loam

Vinification: Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer were picked and co-fermented together for six days before being pressed and aged in stainless steel. The Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay were also fermented on skins for a week before pressings and going into 500L oak puncheons. The wine was blended and bottled unfined and unfiltered in August 2021 with a small amount of sulphur and a 2% addition of Syrah to give it a slight pink blush.

Aging: 6 months

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: Small amount at bottling

Notes from the Winemaker: A bit of a switch up for Rainbow Juice in 2021 with the wine being predominantly Pinot gris co-fermented on skins for 6 days with Gewürztraminer. The result is a super aromatic textural delight that holds true to the Rainbow Juice mantra of a skin contact rose (if that makes sense at all).

Prior to winegrowing, we were both marine scientists, specialising in phycology (the study of marine plants). In our PhD studies (at different universities), we studied the biodiversity of different seaweed groups and how they are related. It was super fun and the discovery and naming of new species a big highlight, as well as the top notch collaborators we each worked with. A love of wine, food and growing things eventually drew us away from academic life. The Gentle Folk story began in 2012 after spending a lot of our free time in Basket Range helping and hanging out with James Erskine (Jauma), Alex Schulkin (The Other Right) and other early pioneers of the Basket Range wine movement. Our winemaking journey started with just three barrels of wine in 2013 from the Broderick's Basket Range Vineyard, and a dream. Over the years we have been lucky enough to travel parts of the world learning about winemaking and growing, have acquired a lot more vineyard area as well as built relationships with some amazing growers in the Adelaide Hills. We currently produce between six and seven thousand cases annually, employ five lovely humans and farm eight hectares of vines. A kid (Leonard) appeared somewhere in the middle! We hope you have an opportunity to try and enjoy our wines no matter where on earth you find yourself.