Preservative Free means the wine was made without any preservatives, in particular, sulfur dioxide. It is traditionally sought out by allergy sufferers but today it is increasingly appreciated for its own sake by wine “idealists” who have found that good examples are great drinking with fewer hangovers!
We admit that though we are one of the first organic wineries in NSW (winning the inaugural NSW Organic Pioneers Award in 2012), we were staunch resistors of the concept of having “unprotected wine”[1].
Finally, in 2012, with winemakers Chris Derrez and Lucy Maddox, we took the leap of producing a wine without any protection, and called it “Freedom”. We chose to use Mourvèdre, a late red variety widely grown in the south of France. Mourvedre is our favourite variety at present, resistant to drought and disease, retaining its acid well, and making soft and rustic red or rose wine, floral but earthy at the same time.
We soon discovered that the most obvious feature of preservative free red wine is a very vibrant colour with tinges of purple when first bottled, and a wild fruitiness, both reducing slightly as the wine slowly oxidises in the bottle. However, the wine is actually ageing quite well, with vibrancy giving way to a softer sobriety.
So in 2013, we have definitely lost our virginity, and made a Red, a White and a Rose under the Freedom label.
The 2013 Freedom Red is made from 75% Shiraz and 25% Mourvedre, co-fermented in steel tank, with moderate tannin extraction, some oak contact, malolactic fermentation, complete oxygen exclusion, and careful filtration before bottling under screw cap. There is an element of residual sweetness (approx 6g/litre), which has turned out to be quite pleasant.
The 2013 Freedom Rose is a simple “saigne” or “bleeding off” pink from the same tank as the red, just after crushing the grapes. Therefore there is not much of it, which makes us feel better as we expect to see its vibrant pinkness turn rebbrick as the wine slowly oxidises in the bottle.
The 2013 Freedom White is made from 60% Chardonnay and 40% Semillon, in the same philosophy as the Rosnay “Blanc”: a balance of the chardonnay fruit weight and the Semillon acidity and minerality. As for the red, the white is co-fermented in steel tank, with moderate tannin extraction, some oak contact, malolactic fermentation, complete oxygen exclusion, and careful filtration before bottling under screw cap.
The original label painting by Florence Statham is of the Ibis who are wonderful and frequent visitors to Rosnay. And they are clean!