| Fruit : 17 Varieties of Apples | Color : White Cider |
| Origin : Gippsland | Bottle Size : 75cl |
| Region : Australia | ABV : 6.7% |
| Vintage : 2019 | Natural Factor: No Sulphur Added, Organic |
Wine Insight
Momento Mori was born out of a desire to make wines that first and foremost have respect for the living. ‘Momento Mori’ is Latin for ‘Remember that you have to die’ (or near to), after all… New Zealander Dane Johns started his career in wine working for Bill Downie in Victoria, later moving on to start his own label with fruit sourced from just a few organic growers throughout the region.
Dane works primarily with Italian varietals such as Fiano, Moscato Giallo, and Nero d’Avola that seem to shine in this climate. All of Dane’s wines are as hand-made as can be. Small ferments, wild yeast, no new oak, no mechanical pumps, no fining, no filtration, no additions. All of his wines are full of character, freshness and purity, and above all else, they are alive.
Apples from the orchards initially planted between 1988 and 1992 and have been certified organic for over 30 years. Now fully matured, there are also collections of chestnuts, walnuts, persimmons, peaches, nashi pears and plums as well as many other exotic fruits and berries in the farms. There are over 30 varieties of apples including heritage and cider varieties. The property is its own micro-ecosystem, very much in a state of harmony with all of the life that abounds within. There are 17 apple varieties in this cider in varying amounts which some of them are very old and rare (especially in Australia).
Dane aimed to make the most transparent cider possible, one that let the fruit and complexity of the many apple varieties shine through. He approached this in the same way as winemaking, very much with hands off but with eyes on, keeping a very close watch over the fermentations throughout. The apples were crushed, pressed and the juice was roughly filtered using diatomaceous earth. This was done as Dane wanted to make a clean cider using the Méthode rurale process which means that there is no disgorging of the bottle after bottle ferment.
Fermented with the native wild yeasts and was entirely in stainless. The cider was then bottled while still active to complete fermentation in bottles with nothing added at any stage, including no SO2 and no dosage. Style wise, this is similar to the ciders of Eric Bordelet or Jacques Perritaz of Cidrerie du Vulcain. It is fine boned and transparent whilst having a nuance of delicate layers of the multitude of various apple varieties. It will also develop well to become more complex over the next couple of years.
Pairs Well With
Bacon and Waffles
Sounds Like
Alice Phoebe Lou - Underworld