In 2019, Tom and Peter decided to move forward with our dream and start TOPE Wines. Our philosophy for TOPE is to make delicious single vineyard wines from grapes grown in great vineyard sites. We work hard in the vineyard and winery to make wines that respect their sense of place and offer wine drinkers great wines at drinkable prices.
2023 TOPE “100 Osmond” Riesling
The ‘100 Osmond’ Riesling is one of the founding pillars of TOPE. From sitting on the back patio in the lingering afternoon sunshine, Tom and Pete would often share a glass of Riesling and be amazed at the beauty of purity of the variety, its ability to reflect the place it was from and intriguing evolution – able to be drunk young and fresh or allowed to develop a richness and depth with age. The ‘100 Osmond’ Riesling is crafted with these afternoons in mind.
Viticulture
Located on a Northern facing slope, the vineyard receives the full day’s sun. Dry grown, the vines have developed deep roots into the layered mineral soils that lie beneath the rich limestone of the hill. The cooler climate is accentuated by the elevation of the vineyard, and especially felt in the low night time temperatures that create an ideal diurnal temperature range for ripening fruit and respiring vines. These factors produce a very low disease pressure scenario - even in more trying years, allowing us to implement a minimal interference in the vineyard.
The 2023 season was a challenging climatic year, but one that suited the white varieties very well as the environmental stress it produced saw the vines focus their energies into producing grapes. A cool summer induced a late flowering, giving the vines fresh from their dormancy to focus energies into producing full and dense leaf canopies. This was critical as once the berries were produced later in the season the warm weather was beginning. The additional shading of the canopy combated the heat of the sun and allowed the grapes to develop their flavours in step with the accumulation of sugar ripeness. Repeated grape sampling over the two weeks prior resulted in the decision to pick the vineyard on the 19th March just before dawn. In darkness the harvester was escorted along the rows and the picked bunches were delivered to the winery in gondolas, where they were loaded into the awaiting press.
Specifics
Location – Armagh; Clare Valley; South Australia Elevation – 380 meters
Average Vine Age – 33 years Soil – Limestone Dry Grown
Winemaking
Delivered to the winery in the early morning, bunches were checked and loaded into a de-stemmer. The grapes were passed through a chiller to snap chill the berries as they were loaded into a small enclosed press. Under inert gas coverage, the initial draining was allowed to occur naturally solely from the weight of the grapes on-top of each other. Once this draining had occurred, the press was activated to its softest possible pressure to crack the berries. Once again the juice was allowed to natural drain and was collected. This bright first juice was held separately. The juice was chilled to 4 degrees and allowed to settle naturally, clarifying over 48 hours. Once clear, the clean juice was rack from the top of the juice lees into a closed stainless steel fermenter where it was allowed to warm as commence fermentation. Once the fermentation was underway, the ferments temperature was regulated low to retain as much of the highly aromatic compounds in the wine. Sixteen days after first fermentation was noticed, the wine completed its fermentation to dryness. The wine was then remain on its fermentation lees and was battonaged for a couple of weeks. Once the ideal texture had developed, the wine was chilled to below 0 degrees and allowed to sit for a few week to cold stabilize – allowing the precipitation of the excess natural acid. The wine was clarified through traditional methods before being racked clean and filtered.
Technical
Alcohol – 11.5% Residual Sugar – 0.3 g/L Acidity – 7.5 g/L
Fermented & matured in Stainless Steel - Bottled 23rd August 2023
Sensory
Bright and clear, the wine holds a faint pale straw colour that has a fine green tinge to the hue.
After pouring, the soft aromas immediately fill the glass. Aromas of dehydrated orange and freshly picked grapefruit skin are underpinned by subtle perfumed white blossoms notes.
The soft citrus flavours that mimic the aroma are layered with by soft lime flavour that is carried by green apple acidity. This acidity flows long through the centre of the palate and is complimented by crisp minerality with slate flavours and chalk acidity. This characteristic is naturally occurring from the layered limestone soils of the vineyard.
This dry yet full bodied style of Riesling is finely balanced with the natural phenolics from the grape; softening the layered and mouth filling structural acidity. The wine while intense in flavour is quite dry on the palate with a long salivating finish that leaves the palate clean and ready for more.
Serving
This wine should be slightly chilled and allowed to warm in the drinker’s glass. This will allow the wine to truly blossom and provided the drinker full experience of the variety and its evolution over the course of a bottle. This wine has been crafted by the winemaker in the mind of serving while it is young and fresh- however, with the ideal growing season and layers of finely balanced acidity in the wine, this wine will mature well for another 5 to 7 years.
The ‘Dual Citizen’ Riesling is the embodiment of the founding spirit of TOPE – to create unique wines that have a purity of fruit that resonates to the place that they came from. This philosophy is carried into the winery today as the versatile nature of the Riesling variety is hand crafted into yet another beautiful style. With an identical clone of Riesling, on a common parallel and even at the same altitude, Duel Citizen vineyard sits on the Eastern Ridge facing west while its counterpart the 100 Osmond vineyard sits on the Western ridge facing north-east. This has created a true second passport for this delicate and malleable grape variety.
Viticulture
Located on the western slope of the Eastern Ridge of the main valley, this vineyard is shaded from the heat of the morning and enjoys the long summer afternoon sunlight. Dry grown, the vines have had to work hard to reach down through the yellow clay that sits beneath the vines. The cooler climate is accentuated by the elevation of the vineyard, and especially felt in the low night time temperatures that create an ideal diurnal temperature range for ripening fruit and respiring vines. Sitting in an natural amphitheatre that gradually steepen at the lowest point of the vineyard allows both humid and cold air to flow from the vineyard and produce naturally low disease and low frost risk area - allowing us to implement a minimal interference in the vineyard.
The 2023 season was a challenging climatic year, but one that suited the white varieties very well as the environmental stress it produced saw the vines focus their energies into producing grapes. A cool summer induced a late flowering, giving the vines fresh from their dormancy to focus energies into producing full and dense leaf canopies. This was critical as once the berries were produced later in the season the warm weather was beginning. The additional shading of the canopy combated the heat of the sun and allowed the grapes to develop their flavours in step with the accumulation of sugar ripeness. Repeated grape sampling over the two weeks prior resulted in the decision to pick the vineyard on the 19th March just before dawn. In darkness the harvester was escorted along the rows and the picked bunches were delivered to the winery in gondolas, where they were loaded into the awaiting press.
Specifics
Location – Hill River; Clare Valley; South Australia Elevation – 390 meters
Average Vine Age – 22 years Soil – Sandy loam over yellow clay Dry Grown
Winemaking
Delivered to the winery in the early morning, bunches were checked and loaded into a de-stemmer. The grapes were passed through a chiller to snap chill the berries as they were loaded into a small enclosed press. Under inert gas coverage, the initial draining was allowed to occur naturally solely from the weight of the grapes on-top of each other. Once this draining had occurred, the press was activated to its softest possible pressure to crack the berries. Once again the juice was allowed to natural drain and was collected. This bright first juice was held separately. The juice was chilled to 4 degrees and allowed to settle naturally, clarifying over 48 hours. Once clear, the clean juice was rack from the top of the juice lees into a closed stainless steel fermenter where it was allowed to warm as commence fermentation. Once the fermentation was underway, the ferments temperature was regulated low to retain as much of the highly aromatic compounds in the wine. Fourteen days after first fermentation was noticed, the wine was determined to be in an idea balance and was stalled by chilling it. The wine was then remain on its fermentation lees and was battonaged for a couple of weeks. Once the ideal texture had developed, the wine was chilled to below 0 degrees and allowed to sit for a few week to cold stabilize – allowing the precipitation of the excess natural acid. The wine was clarified through traditional methods before being racked clean and filtered.
Technical
Alcohol – 11.5% Residual Sugar – 1.2 g/L Acidity – 6.6 g/L
Fermented & matured in Stainless Steel - Bottled 23rd August 2023
Sensory
Bright and clear, the wine is pale yellow in with a seamless clarity carrying the colour through the meniscus.
The wine is aromatically intense. Aromas of sweetened lemon juice and white drive and overlay alluring subtle aromas of honey suckle florals and fennel seed. These bright aromas pair perfectly with soft marmalade like citrus flavours that are carried broad and long across the palate by a enveloping peach like acidity.
This palate coating Riesling is well balanced between the small amount natural remaining sugars and the softened acid and time on lees. The wine while intense in flavour is quite dry on the palate with a mouth coating finish that leaves the palate refreshed with long subtle flavours.
Serving
This wine should be slightly chilled and allowed to warm in the drinker’s glass. This will allow the wine to truly blossom and provided the drinker full experience of the variety and its evolution over the course of a bottle. This wine has been crafted by the winemaker in the mind of serving while it is young and fresh- however, with the ideal growing season and layers of finely balanced acidity in the wine, this wine will mature well for another 5 to 7 years.
2023 “Dual Citizen” Riesling
2022 TOPE “P+R” Cabernet Sauvignon
This Cabernet Sauvignon is the accumulation of patient viticulture, traditional techniques and the desire to have as wine that retains the refinement of the iconic variety while boasting the bright fruits of the modern Australian style. With an ideal location, a hand crafted small batch process and a reverence for the variety, this wine is a true expression of a full yet finely balanced Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Viticulture
Location – Eastern Range of Clare Valley
Average Vine Age – 23 years
Dry Grown
Elevation -497 meters to 550 meters
Soil – Dark red soil over sub-surface slate
The vineyard sits on the Eastern range of the Clare Valley. Located just below the crest of the Western slope, the Cabernet vines enjoy the long setting sunlight hours. The dry grown vines have deep roots through the rich red soils and into the cracking slate that lines beneath. This combination of factors is ideal for cooler climate Cabernet Sauvignon, with slow ripening conditions with long soft sun light hours, the fruit is able to remain on the vine and fully develop its rich flavour profile while retaining its classical cooler climate varietal nature. The exposure and micro-climate this vineyard finds itself in also provides the perfect low disease pressure environment, allowing a minimal interference approach with only a single sulphur spray being applied during the fruiting season.
Winemaking
Picked in the morning, the bunches delivered to the winery around midday. The bunches were inspected and de-stemmed. The grapes were placed into a small, open top, stainless steel fermenter where they were covered with inert gas and chilled. Once chilled, the gapes were gently hand plunged to break the berries. The juice and grapes were covered and allowed to cold soak for 4 days, intensifying the flavour from the grape skins into the juice. After this time, the dark red juice was allowed to warm naturally and fermentation allow to initiate. Once the grape skins had been lifted by the fermentation, the cap was managed initially with hand plunging. Once the cap had truly been formed, oxidative pump overs would occur twice or three times a day to keep the cap wet, draw out the flavour and texture of the grape and manage the ferment’s temperature. After 16 days, the fermentation naturally finished, and cap was permitted to sink back into the wine. The wine was then drained to a stainless-steel static tank and the grape skins were dug out into a basket press. The juice from the pressed skins was returned to the drained wine, enriching its structure with natural tannin. The wine was settled in tank for a week and then transferred from its heavy lees and placed within a combination of French and Hungarian Hogshead barrels (300 Ltr). In these barrels the wine was allowed to mature for 12 months. Over this time the wine clarified with gravity, and the clean wine was separated from its fine lees. The barrels were blended back together before being course filtered and going to bottle.