Smallfry 'Tangerine Dream' 2024 750mL

AUSTRALIA : BAROSSA VALLEY : VINE VALE

BIODYNAMIC : Semillon, Pedro Ximenes, Riesling, Roussanne

FULL-BODIED, ORANGE RIND, BEESWAX, CITRUS PEEL, GINGER, NEUTRAL OAK

Tangerine Dream comes from Schlieb's Garden — a Vine Vale block whose Semillon, Pedro Ximenes, and Riesling plantings date to the 1850s. Winemaker Wayne Ahrens notes it's likely the last site in the Barossa with all three varieties still growing together. The fruit is harvested sequentially across vintage: early-picked Semillon for acid, then Riesling, then Pedro in two waves — light for structure, very ripe for the ginger and honeyed finish.

The wine is fermented on skins with wild yeast, unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulphites. The result is what Wayne calls "the red drinker's white" — full body, a grainy phenolic grip from the skin contact, and enough complexity to reward a slow glass. It sits between an oaky Chardonnay and the more challenging end of the orange wine spectrum: a genuine introduction to the style without the compromise.

PAIRINGS :