Alkina house spotlight
Amelia Nolan is on camera in The Grape Nomad's Meet the Masters film from Alkina, the regenerative Greenock farm behind this Night Sky GSM.
The market on this bottle
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2021 Alkina Night Sky GSM Barossa Valley, Australia
Amelia Nolan's biodynamic Greenock GSM, 70 percent whole bunch, a 2021 Night Sky you can open at forty-five dollars.
The 2021 Night Sky is 48 percent Grenache, 37 percent Shiraz, and 15 percent Mataro, wild ferment, concrete, about 70 percent whole bunches: blood plum, salted licorice, iodine, and roasted meat, now $45.
Old-vine GSM that stays dark, not jammy
Night Sky is Alkina's Kin GSM from old vines, wild ferment, and concrete tulips. The 2021 is 48 percent Grenache, 37 percent Shiraz, 15 percent Mataro, about 70 percent whole bunches, matured separately in concrete, then two months in a 2,700-liter foudre. Wine Advocate 91 called it pure, dark, brooding, and vital: blood, iodine, salted licorice, blood plum skins, roasted meat fat. Alkina called 2021 outstanding, a long cool late season. This is the bottle that argues Greenock GSM can be savory at forty-five dollars.
The house
Amelia Nolan makes Alkina on a certified organic and biodynamic farm near Greenock. Oldest vines date from the 1950s.
The wine
48% Grenache, 37% Shiraz, 15% Mataro. Wild ferment, concrete, 70% whole bunch, two months in foudre.
The scores
Wine Advocate 91. Blood plum, iodine, salted licorice, roasted meat.
The drinker
Serve 60 to 64 F. Thirty minutes of air. Grilled sausage or lamb.
Blood plum and licorice, then iodine and meat
Erin Larkin summed the 2021 as old vines, wild ferment, concrete tulip vessels, then blood, iodine, salted licorice, blood plum skins, and roasted meat fat. Trade notes add dark raspberry, blackberry, liquorice, vanillin earth, and pepper on a sturdy tannin frame with fresh acidity. Whole bunch keeps it lifted. Concrete keeps it from turning into oak Barossa.
Cool, even days from January supported slow ripening. Alkina called it outstanding: acidity, tannin, flavor, and color in the same window. Night Sky is that year as GSM, not as a heavy Shiraz costume.
Blood plum, dark raspberry, blackberry, salted licorice, iodine, pepper.
14.6% ABV, 70% whole bunch, concrete, two months in 2,700L foudre.
Roasted meat, mineral, length. Serve 60 to 64 F. Thirty minutes of air.
Whole bunches, concrete tulips, almost no new oak
Grenache, Shiraz, and Mataro were fermented wild and matured separately in concrete. About 70 percent whole bunches. After the blend, two months in a 2,700-liter foudre. The Kin Night Sky label is where Nolan lets old Greenock vines speak without a new-oak costume.
Damien Coulthard's Night Sky art honors Aboriginal Nations' relationship with moon and stars as part of Country.
Serve 60 to 64 F. Thirty minutes of air. Sausage and fennel are the weeknight plate.
Moonlight on an old Greenock farm
Alkina means moon or moonlight. The farm sits on Ngadjuri country, with 43 planted hectares and stone buildings from German settler history.
Alejandro Bulgheroni bought the property in 2015. Amelia Nolan is the local winegrower who turned it into a regenerative farm.
The Old Quarter is the 1950s Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro, and Semillon. Night Sky is the Kin GSM from that idea.
The 2021 is whole bunch and concrete in a cool year. That is the authority in the glass.
Sausage, then lamb
GSM spice wants fennel and char. Blood plum wants lamb fat. Iodine wants a grill, not a cream sauce.
Two plates. One grilled sausage. One rack of lamb.
Serve 60 to 64 F. Thirty minutes of air. Keep the glass slightly cool so floral and mineral sides stay visible.
Grilled sausage and fennel
Char, mustard, peppers.
Why it works: Smoke and fennel meet GSM spice.
View Recipe for grilled Italian sausage (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary garlic rack of lamb
Nagi's rosemary garlic marinade, roasted pink.
Why it works: Rosemary and lamb fat echo savory spice in the glass.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)Put Night Sky in the cart
Amelia Nolan, old vines, Wine Advocate 91. Forty-five dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is Greenock GSM with iodine and licorice, not a jammy Barossa blend.
