Intro to Alpha Box & Dice Enigma Barbera – Alpha Box & Dice Enigma Barbera from McLaren Vale in Australia is the colour of arterial blood. On the nose there are aromas of wild berries, rhubarb and custard whilst the palate oozes strawberries and cream mixed with pink lemonade. Full tasting note and wine making – Riddle me this… What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race? It’s “E” of course. The AB&D Enigma is a puzzle well worth solving, as a puzzle has many sides, only some visible at first, but the deeper you dig the more is revealed. Barbera is the grape variety here – thought to have originated in the hills of Piemonte, it’s high in acid, low in tannin, tricky in the vineyard, tricky in the winery, but by the beard of Zeus does it ever shape- shift into a soifalicious drink in the glass when all the panels of the vinous Rubik’s Cube align. Barbera you saucy, puzzling little minx. The Barbera grapes for this wine are picked from the Christmas Hill Vineyard in Kuitpo and Carmine Peppicelli Vineyard in Kenton Valley, Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. The soil is light red clay loam. The grapes are fermented as whole bunches and spend 24 months in old barriques (225L) and puncheons (500L). The latter is favoured for gentler maturation. The producer – Alpha Box & Dice were formed as a laboratory for viticultural exploration in 2008, as the team set up constructing a different wine style to represent every letter of the alphabet. Each member of the ‘Alphabet of Wine’ has its own unique personality that fulfils a different purpose – no two wines are created alike. AB&D wines are all linked by their environment and surrounding, being created holistically through minimal intervention, vegan friendly methods. However, they are completely distinct in their flavour, appearance and orientation. In this way, AB&D wines are just like a (mostly) happy family. With a culture soaked in community, quality and a laissez-faire spirit, Alpha Box & Dice will continue to inspire, delight and surprise in everything they do… and they do a lot! AB&D Vision: Wines without boundaries – regional, varietal or stylistic. Wines whose entire raison d’être is to be delicious and to express the minutia and complexity of site and vintage conditions. Wines that enchant; wines that delight you and leave you betwixt the rock and ripe grape. Through a series of random experiments in the field and adventures in vinous bricolage, these are our modest goals. Drink with – This is delicious on its own or with gamey meat dishes.
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