2023 Gentle Folk Onkaparinga Valley Sangiovese

Highly Rated
The debut release of Gareth Belton's finest Sangiovese.

Price:
Sale price$70.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Here’s something fresh and exciting from Gentle Folk’s 2023 release—their very first single-vineyard, premium Sangiovese! Sourced from the highest and rockiest section of the Turnbull Vineyard in Charleston, these meticulously farmed 26-year-old vines have finally allowed Gareth Belton to fulfil his dream of crafting a site-specific Sangiovese. And what a debut it is!

This Sangiovese is still youthful, with its natural acidity and fine-boned tannins giving it a tight structure that will only get better with time. The wine is brimming with blue fruits—think juicy blueberries and plums—while the chewy tannins give it a rustic charm and depth that is classic for the variety. Vinified with 100% destemmed fruit and given time in both terracotta amphora and a French oak barrel for 10 months, the result is a beautifully textured wine with a lovely balance between earthiness and elegance.

At 14.5% ABV, it’s robust yet refined, with plenty of potential for cellaring. With just 1,487 bottles produced, this wine marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Gentle Folk, and it’s one we can’t wait to see evolve over the next few years.

96 points
"A new addition to the Gentle Folk portfolio. Like the harmony and flow of precise choreography, this is an effortless, purposeful wine and commands pause. Potpourri and twig, sour red cherry and fired clay. Lessons in beauty and grace. But it is wilful; there is intent. The scent of watering the tomatoes in summer, dusk looming. Dried marjoram, oregano and soft leather. Powerful. The tannins are granular, complete and fine. We often talk about integrated structure in wine as a requisite for excellence, but this is something more fluid than a sum of parts integrated, it is metronomic balance. A very fine wine that transcends expectations."
- Katrina Butler (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points
"Medium cherry red colour. Raspberry, red cherry, musk stick and crushed rose petal on the nose. Medium weight on the palate, a wonderful mix of red fruits with musk, rose and dusty earth all playing their notes in harmony as it flows along the palate. Tannins have classic sangiovese grip but stay in time with the fruit, ensuring a great carry and final dryness. Will evolve further in the cellar too."
- Stuart Knox (The Real Review)

96 points - "A new addition to the Gentle Folk portfolio. Like the harmony and flow of precise choreography, this is an effortless, purposeful wine and commands pause. Potpourri and twig, sour red cherry and fired clay. Lessons in beauty and grace. But it is wilful; there is intent. The scent of watering the tomatoes in summer, dusk looming. Dried marjoram, oregano and soft leather. Powerful. The tannins are granular, complete and fine. We often talk about integrated structure in wine as a requisite for excellence, but this is something more fluid than a sum of parts integrated, it is metronomic balance. A very fine wine that transcends expectations." - Katrina Butler (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points - "Medium cherry red colour. Raspberry, red cherry, musk stick and crushed rose petal on the nose. Medium weight on the palate, a wonderful mix of red fruits with musk, rose and dusty earth all playing their notes in harmony as it flows along the palate. Tannins have classic sangiovese grip but stay in time with the fruit, ensuring a great carry and final dryness. Will evolve further in the cellar too." - Stuart Knox (The Real Review)

Well here it is! A new wine in the portfolio for 2023. Meticulously farmed twenty-six year of vines from the boniest and highest section of the Turnbull Vineyard in Charleston have allowed us to realize our dream of making site specific Sangiovese. It’s still young and primary but with the natural acidity and the fine boned tannins we are sure that this wine, as well as this story, have only just started their journeys.

Vineyard: Turnbull Family Vineyard, Charleston

Planted: 1998

Clones: HCV9

Elevation: 460m

Aspect: N

Soil: Sandly loam over siltstone and sandstone

Vinification: 100% destemmed open top fermentation for two weeks before closing the lid and sealing for two more months. Basket pressed to a 1000L terracotta amphora and a new 228L French oak barrel for 10 months before bottling.

Harvest date: 24 April 2023

Bottled: 14 May 2024

Alc: 14.5%

pH: 3.52

TA: 5.8 g/L

Production: 1487 bottles

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Sangiovese
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State SA
Feature High Score
Reviewed By The Real Review
Halliday Wine Companion)
Critic Score 95
96
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Cork

Gentle Folk

Gareth and Rainbo Belton are the Gentle Folks, both in name and in sensibility. They are gentle, soulful people, both originally seaweed experts, who turned their hands to farming grapes with an organic and sustainable approach. Today they are crafting some of the most legitimately exciting and exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Adelaide Hills and are firmly rooted in the upper echelon of Australia's lo-fi wine scene.

Their wines cover multiple sub-regions across the Adelaide Hills. There are no additions during the winemaking process, save for a splash of SO2 at bottling to keep the wines pristine as they travel from the Beltons' home to yours. The worlds of fine wine and natural wine collide in the Gentle Folk range. They are beautiful people making increasingly breathtaking wines that you definitely want to check out.

Gareth Belton in one of his vineyards - Basket Range, Adelaide Hills, SA Gentle Folk

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