Derive Wines
Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale
“We love recommendations from winemakers, especially when they send in friends or close working colleauges. Ollie Bevan (these wines - Derive) shares a shed with Cooper Davis-Draper, the latter familiar to many of you from his tasting here, and maker of the David-declared ‘Aussie Rayas’.
Well, here’s a new one: Ollie’s Chenin is the Nick-delcared Robinot of Australia.
These are precise and elegant wines courtesy of their mineral soils and ocean breeze-cooled sites. Ollie is mindful in both vineyard and cellar (well, shed); these are ripe yet retain brilliant structuring acidity, full without ever being blowsy, and stand apart from the local norm. without veering into simply strange.
Bluntly, these are very fine wines. The Chenin is phenomenal. The Grenache is delicious too.”
— Nick
“[O]n the creative plane … in a kind of plasma which allows [movement] around gliding backwards and forwards, [remaining] within the same thing and [irradiating'] in several directions at once.”
— Pierre Boulez
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~ please note : discounts are automatically applied at the digital check-out! ~
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Derive 2024 McLaren Vale Chenin Blanc 'Blewitt Springs - Tintookie'
(Shelf price: $37.00)
Offer: $29.00
“Glaciers, soleils d'argent, flots nacreux, cieux de braises!”
— Arthur Rimbaud
“The Derive 2024 Chenin Blanc is a rich full yellow flecked with gold, perfectly clear. I’m impressed by a powerful nose of ripe apricots and confit citrus, which mingle alongside peach kernel, bitter lemon pith, and hints of wormwood. There is elegant complexity in the form of melted wax, peach blossom, and Canola meadow. The palate is soft and round, one really feels the clay and sand terroir here. Sea spray brings welcome freshness. The palate has a delightful concentration focusing on salty peach flesh together with dried and fresh herbs. The finish is long and flecked with bitter apricot nuances. Very fine.”
— David
“This is how great Robinot should drink when it’s in condition; I’d like to see some of those ‘natural wine’ mavens squirm about trying to pick this as a Bistrologie or l’Iris … are we allowed to publish that?”
— Nick
Order here
(Link)
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Derive 2024 McLaren Vale Grenache 'Blewitt Springs - Uli'
(Shelf price: $37.00)
Offer: $29.00
“Or moi, bateau perdu sous les cheveux des anses … ”
— Arthur Rimbaud
“An attractive garnet-ruby with no hint of luridity, this unmistakably ‘Blewitt Springs’ Grenache is an instant delight straight out of the bottle. The nose opens with plum blossom, followed by cherry skins and Chinese sour plum juice, dancing alongside which is a ferruginous, ironstone minerality.
The palate is firm, granular, yet juicy, seemingly gaining in energy with each swirl. The tannins are firm and granular, certainly well-structured, but hardly lacking in elegance. A core of fresh, pleasantly tart dark plums marches down the palate, while notes of plum skin, herbal liqueur, milk to dark chocolate, and freshly-roasted (second crack) coffee add depth and richness. There is a distinctively Tuscan-esque element of blood orange freshness here too; Montalcino by way of Blewitt Springs? I might be grasping at straws there, but this is simply delicious.”
— Nick
Order here
(Link)
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“Despite waxing philosophical, as any drunken boat is wont to do, I need to stress that these wines deserve your attention.”
— David
If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.