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$28.00
When you’re in the mood for:
Raspberry & red cherry • Lighter red • Pinot can take the night off
This is Mataro, but not the big broody version.
Our 2025 early-picked Mataro comes from Willoughby Bridge in Heathcote and shows a brighter, lighter side of a grape more often known for depth, colour and structure. Same variety, different timing, very different mood.
In the glass, think raspberry and red cherry, with fresh lift, fine tannins and a lighter step than you might expect from Mataro. It sits in that red-fruited, slightly Pinot-adjacent space — not because it’s trying to be Pinot, but because sometimes you want a red that doesn’t arrive wearing work boots.
We kept the oak touch light, just enough to round the edges. Later, it spent time in a FlexTank — an unglamorous but clever bit of winery gear that lets wine breathe gently, a little like barrel maturation, without adding more oak flavour. Useful when you want shape, not oakiness.
This is the bottle for when you want red wine with flavour and shape, but not a red that takes over the whole evening. Try it lightly chilled, with roast veg, charcuterie, grilled chicken, mushroomy things, tomato-based dishes, or whatever dinner turns into after the first glass.
Pinot can take the night off.
One of the best things about the 2025 Mataro was getting to see the same grape show two very different sides of itself.
This parcel from Willoughby Bridge came in on the earlier side — around 12.8 Baumé — and immediately sat closer to the lighter-red end of Mataro’s personality. More raspberry and red cherry than dark fruit and muscle. More fresh lift than brooding in the corner.
So we leaned into it.
Rather than trying to push it into a heavier style, we followed what the fruit was already doing: bright red fruit, finer tannins, no heavy extraction. A light touch of oak helped round the edges — enough for shape, not enough to dress it up as something it wasn’t.
And because we also had a later-picked Mataro parcel to play with, the whole thing became a pretty handy experiment: same grape, same grower, same season — two very different directions. Honestly, a bit of a winemaking gift.
This wine also spent time in a FlexTank. FlexTanks don’t have the romance of barrels, and yes, they’re a lot less photogenic. But they’re useful: they let wine breathe gently, a bit like barrel maturation, without adding more oak flavour. For this wine, that mattered. We wanted polish, not weight.
It also became part of our 2025 Mataro three ways story: rosé, earlier-picked lighter red, and later-picked barrel-aged red. Same grape, very different moods.
This one is the lifted one: raspberry, red cherry, fine tannins, a fresh finish, and enough flavour to remind you that lighter red doesn’t mean insipid.
A Heathcote red in lighter shoes.
