Description
Berton Crook Road Verdelho comes from the Riverina region of New South Wales, which was part of the desert-like outback until the miracle of irrigation was introduced in the 1920s. It transformed the arid soils into fertile land, so that today it is one of the most important 'fruit baskets' of Australia. It relies for its water supply on the Murrumbidgee river. With the current drought biting hard, water is a precious commodity.
The wine is from Bob Berton, with whom we've been working at various cellars around New South Wales for the last twenty years, and have always been impressed by the wines he produces. In 2006, Bob decided to go solo, so invested in a cellar all of his own, in Riverina. He employed two winemakers whom he had worked with before, the excellent James Ceccato and Belinda Morandin.
Just the second vintage released from Bob's new winery, this white is made purely from Verdelho, a grape of Portuguese origin, that is used in Madeira to denote the second driest style of its fortified wine.
This variety has existed in Australia for a couple of centuries, but until just a few years back, was used exclusively to produce its gloriously sticky, sweet fortified 'liqueur' wines. Then winemakers discovered how well this grape retains its acidity and makes deliciously fresh, dry whites even in the hottest climate. This is a cool-fermented Verdelho - all fruit and no oak.
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