Some of the most alluring wines in Margaret River are made by small-scale producers.
They are often artisanal, experimental, and uniquely placed to orchestrate their own destiny. They are also putting fun back into wine, writes Jane Faulkner.
Article reproduced from Halliday Wine Companion (winter 2024)
L.A.S. VINO
NIC PETERKIN is one of the smartest and most creative winemakers: taste his scintillating, thought-provoking wines for proof. The L.A.S Vino collection comprises several chardonnays, cabernet, Albino pinot rosé, a Pirate blend of three Portuguese varieties, CBDB - a chenin blanc dynamic blend, which is one of the finest you'll ever likely to drink, a grenache made from Ferguson Valley fruit, plus the Fuck Him wines (check out the website for details).
How did he get so good?
In what seems a short space of time, he completed under-grad degrees in science and commerce, a Masters in Oenology, set up his fledgling label L.A.S (luck, art and science) and two years later, in 2015, finished an MBA. That's a lot of cerebral energy.
Even coming up with the L.A.S name is a good yarn. While working vintage at Casa Madero in Mexico in 2012, Nic was chatting to winemaker Oscar Gaona.
"I was saying how Mexican wine was a bit rubbish and could do with more science, as Australian know-how was valued. But Oscar replied Australian wine was quite industrial and on a large scale and could do with more art. Then it started raining and we had grapes to pick, so you need luck, too."
The triangle of those words - luck, art and science became the cornerstone of everything he does.
"I want to explore difference and how you can have quality and attention to detail at the same time. It's not about being different for difference's sake."
Yet, a sense of fun and adventure permeates his life and wine.Every year he conducts an experiment - quelling his curiosity. He heard about the Ancient Greeks immersing grapes into the sea as salt water cleaned the waxy bloom off the skins and helped dry the grapes quickly - they were sun dried on mats to preserve and intensify flavours.
For vintage '23, Nic decided to gauge if sea water impacts a wine's flavour and microbes in winemaking. He submerged vermentino in the Indian Ocean to test his theory. The outcome?
Salinity doesn't affect fermentation but at a certain threshold, the wines are not enjoyable because they are too salty.
I can vouch for the saltiness. I tasted the wine in barrel and it was off-the-charts salty. However, the final blend turned out to be 30 per cent saline wine added to a batch of wonderful vermentino.Nic says it made the wine "more interesting, textured and flavoursome."
The wine, called ‘Marea’, turned out beguiling and delicious. The remainder of the salty batch is now a vermouth infused with sea rosemary, salt bush, Geraldton wax and gentian for bitterness. It's out there, he says. And this vintage, it's low-alcohol chenin blanc.
"A bit like light beer, it hits the spot." Get ready folks, the 2024 Chenin Light comes out in September.
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