The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne 2021 (Bin-End)

The oldest vineyards at d'Arenberg were planted in the 1880s in McLaren Vale, South Australia, and the Osborn family has farmed them since 1912. Chester Osborn, the fourth generation, has been at the helm since the 1980s, making wines as distinctive in name as in character (the back labels are worth reading). Traditional methods run through everything here: open fermentation, foot treading and basket pressing. Basket pressing is a labour-intensive process that d'Arenberg applies to both red and white wines, making it one of the very few Australian wineries to do so. The gentleness of basket pressing, slow, controlled and never forced, is central to the quality and texture for which the wines are known.