Dhillon 'Accidental Red' Merlot Shiraz 2024

The Accidental Red came about in 2022 by…..unforeseen opportunity…..by accident! The Merlot being pressed for Rosé had too much juice remaining to discard to compost and Shiraz pressings had too much colour for Rosé so in they went together. In 2023 we decided to make the Accidental Red deliberately and to make it better. And we have done the same again in 2024! Merlot berries are fermented with pressed out Shiraz juice, so in effect there was half the amount of the usual skins for the wine volume. This year we added 5% malbec fruit to the blend. A relatively quick wild yeast fermentation (limiting the time on skins) then into barrel for malolactic and six months maturing through the winter. Simple. This wine is from premium Macedon Ranges fruit yet comes in as a bright, chillable, quaffable, deliberately inexpensive fun wine. It’s red cherry fruity and gently juicy with spice and earth giving added layers. The palate is supple in a mid-weight Pinot-like way with silky, fine, pippy tannins on the lingering finish.