Wine Baptism of Fire

Earlier this year, five teams of everyday wine enthusiasts crawled into the dungeons of Circa’s cellars, tasked with the creation of their own, award winning potion. These winemakers were about to embark on the Wine Baptism of Fire.

All backed by the same Shiraz grapes from Mount Langi Ghiran’s vineyard — and coached by industry professionals including Mac Forbes, Michael Glover and William Downie — each team has spent the last few months harvesting, stomping, tasting and keeping their anxiety at bay as they wait for the grapes to ferment.

So who’s produced the most drinkable drop? Despite working with the same grapes, five distinctly different wines have been produced: Team Lapalus’ ‘After Hours’ boisterous shiraz; Team Harrop’s aromatic ‘Mast’; Team Downie’s bright and fruity ‘Cain & Abel’; or  ‘Onwards!’ by Team Glover, which was incubated in a ceramic egg before bottling? Or could it be ‘Method & Madness’ — an innovative and surprising take on sparkling rosé created by Team Forbes?

Judge for yourself; the BOF wines are currently for available at Vintage Cellars (with profits from the sale going to St Mary’s House of Welcome), with the team that sells the most bottles being announced as winner in November. The post-production celebrations kick off tonight with a wine dinner at Circa. Tip: if you try dunking your head in the wineglass to baptise yourself, you’re doing it wrong.

The wine dinner is happening Thurs 17 October, 6:30pm at Circa, 2 Acland St, St Kilda.
To find out more visit winebof.com/blog. Photo by Australian and New Zealand Winemakers.