Left field: An intriguing result when you take an uncommon grape variety and give it unconventional treatment

The northern Italian grape variety savagnin is not widely grown in Australia. Indeed, it’s something of an accident that it is here at all. Grapegrowers and wineries looking for the “next big thing” were keen to plant the attractive Portuguese variety albarino locally and began obtaining cuttings they thought were this species. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up somewhere, what they planted was actually savagnin. Apart from a name that is far too close to a French variety much loved in the New Zealand wine district of Marlborough, savagnin is a very attractive variety in its own right, thought to be closely related to traminer and sharing some if its spicy, floral characters.

However it happened, Soumah winery in the Yarra Valley has taken this uncommon variety and subjected it to some highly unconventional practices. For starters it is wild fermented in a mix of clay eggs and seasoned oak and then left on lees and solids for some time. Then, the winery has been blending differing vintages, including the 2015, 2019 and 2020 crops, in a solera system similar to that used in making fortified wines such as muscat and topaque (what used to be known as tokay). However, what is produced is not a fortified style but still very much a table wine, albeit with extra complexity and depth and, dare we say it, funky characters. It shows citrus and spice on the nose, with a rich, complex palate and crisp finish, belying its age and time in barrel, with some components going back to 2015. It’s a delicious drop now, with Soumah suggesting pairing it with an aged comte cheese or any French cow’s milk cheese, or with a dish of pasta ribbons with asparagus, parmigiana Reggiano and a touch of cream. It also can stand up to richer chicken or lighter pork dishes. At this stage it is only available for pre-order to Soumah wine club members through the Soumah website (www.soumah.com.au) for about $80 a bottle. However, Soumah has a range of more conventional wines including its Savarro (based on savagnin) and a range of delicious Yarra Valley chardonnays and pinot noirs, plus pinot grigio, viognier, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon and a sparkling and a sweet wine made from the possibly even rarer Italian variety brachetto.