The Accidental Red came about in 2022 by… unforeseen opportunity… by accident! The Merlot being pressed for Rosé had too much juice remaining to discard to compost, and Shiraz pressings had too much colour for Rosé so in they went together.

In 2023, we decided to make the Accidental Red deliberately and to make it better. And we’ve done the same again in 2024! Merlot berries are fermented with pressed-out Shiraz juice, so in effect there was half the amount of the usual skins for the wine volume. This year, we added 5% Malbec fruit to the blend.

A relatively quick wild-yeast fermentation (limiting the time on skins) followed by barrel maturation for malolactic and six months through the winter. Simple.

This wine is from premium Macedon Ranges fruit, yet comes in as a bright, chillable, quaffable, deliberately inexpensive fun wine. It’s red-cherry fruity and gently juicy, with spice and earth giving added layers. The palate is supple in a mid-weight, Pinot-like way with silky, fine, pippy tannins on the lingering finish.

- Michael Dhillon, Bindi