Crawford River Beta Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2022
I have a scribble in my Vintage book that uses the word ‘pure’ for the Semillon and ‘pretty’ for the Sauvignon Blanc fruit in 2022. I think they are evident in the wine. Production has pulled these two elements together and has created a wine with elegance, finesse and texture on top of the two preeminent attributes.”
A poised amalgam of cashew nut, green melon, green walnut, flint and chalk are all present. White florals play around the edges of the front palate. The time on lees lends a silky palate with texture and gentle structure. Bright and fresh, the acidity is an essential part of the length, persistence and longevity of this wine.
Belinda Thomson, Vigneron
A very bright green gold. Fragrant with aromas of ripe apricots, frangipani, pink grapefruit and ginger, this is an excellent example of the style. The palate is slippery and gently exotic before finishing saline and long.
94 pts, Phillip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion.
The B in the Beta of this wine name is actually a β, so is it ‘bee-tah’ or vee-tah’ if we’re doing it properly? Sauvignon blanc and semillon wild fermented and matured in used barrels on lees.
Lovely is a word that delivers an arguably lightweight description of a wine, but this really is lovely. It’s soft and supple, there’s fresh cut stone fruit, ripe lemon, grapefruit, gentle oatmeal and vanilla notes, light, toasty, sweet spices, a lick of chestnut cream and a touch of briny minerality. Fantastic. Just so. Delivers the goods in complexity of flavour and texture while managing very high drinkability. Proper stuff.
94 pts, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front.
Season: The 2021/22 growing season got off to a rocky start, with the Victoria weather throwing a combination of heavy rain, wildly oscillating temperatures and destructive winds. From the end of November, the clouds cleared, and the season flipped on its head to become relatively dry. December proved a relatively warm month and resulted in terrific fruit set across varieties. We had short, sharp bursts of rain at the end of January and February which were both warm, and otherwise dry. The end of the season was mild, meaning ripening progressed very evenly. Colour, acid and tannin all developed beautifully, as did flavours, leading to fabulous fruit being harvested.
Winery: Both varieties are 100% Whole bunch pressed, settled in tank overnight, chilled and racked the next day to barrel. No additions are made to this juice which is left to naturally ferment in its own time. It spends around 10 months in majority older oak, after which it is blended to tank where it spent another 7 months settling.
Vineyard: This section of the vineyard was planted in 1994. We have always thought this block was unique and capable of great things, but our excitement was elevated when drilling the posts, as fossilised sea shells in chalky limestone surfaced from only 500mm below ironstonerich topsoil.
The B in the Beta of this wine name is actually a β, so is it ‘bee-tah’ or vee-tah’ if we’re doing it properly? Sauvignon blanc and semillon wild fermented and matured in used barrels on lees.
Lovely is a word that delivers an arguably lightweight description of a wine, but this really is lovely. It’s soft and supple, there’s fresh cut stone fruit, ripe lemon, grapefruit, gentle oatmeal and vanilla notes, light, toasty, sweet spices, a lick of chestnut cream and a touch of briny minerality. Fantastic. Just so. Delivers the goods in complexity of flavour and texture while managing very high drinkability. Proper stuff.
94 pts, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front.
