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Small Island Wines

2024 Gamay, Saltwater River (Sold out)

2024 Gamay, Saltwater River (Sold out)

Regular price $49.00 AUD
Regular price Sale price $49.00 AUD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Size
  • Small Batch Exclusive
  • 100% Tasmanian Grown
  • Something lovingly different

Tasting notes

After a 2 year hiatuses the coveted Saltwater River Gamay has returned! Due to poor growing conditions we haven’t released our Gamay for the past two vintages, but this one is probably the best so far.

2020 sold out in 24 hours, 2021 in 7 hours, yep 7! 2022 was a wight off due to hail and 23 didn't make the cut due to rain.

2024 is back with vengeance. Unaffected by early heat waves saltwater river entered a blissful warm and long ripening period. The Gamay just hung on the vine developing flavour for weeks.

The colour is so intense during fermentation it would stain your hands purple, like dark red ink. Its a beast.

To preserve and promote the delicate fruit characters the Gamay had no whole bunch, wild ferment and has spent no time in oak.

Violets, raspberries, strawberries. cedar, mulberries, hint of eucalypt and fresh herbs on the nose.

Sour cherries, red fruits and a lightning bolt of acid on the pallet. Perfect to accompany some good quality prosciutto.

If opened in 2024 this wine will benefit from a decant for a hour or two. It will settle down over the net few months and will only get better over the next year.

936 bottles made

Varietal/s: Gamay
GI: Tasmania, Tasman Peninsula
Yield: 4 T/Ha
Harvest Date: 17/04/24
Alcohol: 12.5
PH: 3.4
TA: 5.9
g/L RS: 0
Bottle Date: 18/07/24
Production: 960 Bottles

Its so alive and so much fun to drink.

Food pairing

A really good cheese plate, roast lamb, Christmas lunch or some bbq chips and a movie

About the winemaker

Tasmanian-born James Broinowski completed his bachelor of viticulture and oenology at the University of Adelaide in ’13. He was faced with the same problem as many other graduates wanting to strike out on their own: cash. While others in his predicament may have found the same solution, his was the first wine venture to successfully seek crowdfunding. The first year, he bought enough pinot noir from Glengarry in Tasmania’s north to make 2100 bottles of pinot noir (which won a gold medal at the Royal International Hobart Wine Show ’16) and 200 bottles of rosé. The following year he was able to buy pinot from the highly rated Gala Estate on the East Coast, as well as a repeat order from Glengarry. In ’19, James added Saltwater River vineyard on the Tasmania Peninsula to his roster of premium single sites. The quality of the wines is seriously good, too.-JAMES HALLIDAY

Shipping

Shipping rates

Free shipping when you spend over $100.

$15 shipping when you spend below $100.

Domestic Shipping Policy

All orders are processed within 2-3 business days. Orders are not shipped or delivered on weekends or holidays. If we are experiencing a high volume of orders, shipments may be delayed by a few days. Please allow additional days in transit for delivery. If there will be a significant delay in shipment of your order, we will contact you via email or telephone.

Estimated delivery time

Fastway Standard 7-14 business days (metro)

Fastway 14-30 (rural)

Aus Post *7-30 business days

*used if outside Fastway delivery 

Fore more shipping information please visit our shipping policy page

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Commendations for previous vintages

Wow. Small island, but a big pinot noir. Tasmania’s answer to Central Otago. The colour is deep, and both the texture and tannin structure are powerful. But amidst this feast of plenty, there is purity and restraint to the cherry fruit that emerges to claim the finish and after taste. Gold medal Hobart Wine Show & richly deserved.

- JAMES HALLIDAY

Impressively deep and youthful red-purple colour; savoury aromas of forest-floor, fresh-turned earth and peat-moss. A smoky/nori-like umami aspect. The wine is powerful, intense and impactful, with a long-lasting tannins and persistent follow-through. A sumptuous wine with real class and Burgundy-like dimensions. Very impressive.

HUON HOOKE

It fits into the perfumed steamroller category. It's light but powerful, pretty but not at the expense of substance. It looks as though Small Island Wines is a star in the making. Crisp red berries, under growth, woody spices, a svelte impersonation of plum, florals. Billboards of savouriness line the road of fruit. It's a brilliant wine.

CAMPBELL MATTINSON