An intriguing, zesty sparkling wine, made from a single plot of high quality Chenin Blanc in the Adelaide Hills. Pale in the glass but glowing in the mouth! Plenty of ripe apple and fresh lemon, with pear and a hint of quince. Salty too, in a refreshing way. Very creamy and moreish.

Winemaking, at its very best, is a dirty business. We might like to imagine it as a refined affair - one which primarily involves sipping glasses of vino in the afternoon sun, and perhaps occasionally checking the vines - but as Rob and Loise Mack of Aphelion Wines will tell you, that’s not where the real fun is. Founded in 2014 in McLaren Vale, Aphelion proudly positions itself as a ‘hands-on’ winery, where grapes are gathered by hand and everything is done manually. After all, this is the only way to guarantee quality at every step of the winemaking journey, and quality is what Aphelion is all about. The journey began (as all good journeys should) with Rob and Loise producing a characterful Grenache wine; a passion project and experiment which quickly showed them where their destiny lay. Today, the winery works with Shiraz, Mataro, Nero d’Avola, Sagrantino, Malbec, and more, allowing the handcrafted operation to explore the amazing versatility of their beautiful terroir. With a dedication for organic and sustainable methods, the Macks may not have a glamorous operation to call their own… but with results like these, it’s hard to imagine they’d wish for things to be any other way.