Wildflower St Walter 2023: Gamay will be available online and for tasting and take-away/collection at our cellar door from 12pm (AEST) on Friday 1 December.
Topher's production notes
St Walter a golden barrel aged ale wholly fermented by a diversity of yeasts and bacteria collected from native flowers in NSW refermented with red wine grapes, named for Topher and Bernadette’s first son. Saint Walter was an 11th century monk from the Loire Valley in France and is the patron saint of vintners.
In 2023, St Walter: Gamay was made by blending barrel aged golden mixed culture fermentation ale with 472kg of handpicked, whole bunch Gamay courtesy of Ravensworth. After a three month maceration and refermentation of fruit and beer, it was bottled and allowed to naturally carbonate and mature before release.
The base beer is brewed entirely with certified organic cereals from Chris and Sam Greenwood's farm in Coleambally NSW. Organic raw red wheat with organic schooner barley malted to a pale roast by Voyager Craft Malt. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture of microflora wholly foraged from native flowers in NSW. It was bottled on 10 August 2023 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 12 weeks. At bottling it was 5.9% ABV and 10.0°P.
Meesh's tasting notes
The grapes do the heavy lifting on the nose, big sweet jammy raspberry red fruit. There is a floral note, met with some earthiness and vanillin. Sweetness up front on the palate, minimal tannin. An elegant beverage.
Like all our beers, St Walter 2023: Gamay is best enjoyed when decanted off a settled natural yeast sediment at cellar temperatures (10-12°C).
Enjoy.
