DescriptionMomento Mori was born out of a desire to make wines that first and foremost have respect for the living. ‘Momento Mori’ is Latin for ‘Remember that you have to die’ (or near to), after all… New Zealander Dane Johns started his career in wine working for Bill Downie in Victoria, later moving on to start his own label with fruit sourced from just a few organic growers throughout the region. Dane works primarily with Italian varietals such as Fiano, Moscato Giallo, and Nero d’Avola that seem to shine in this climate. All of Dane’s wines are as hand-made as can be. Small ferments, wild yeast, no new oak, no mechanical pumps, no fining, no filtration, no additions. All of his wines are full of character, freshness and purity, and above all else, they are alive.“The fruit was hand picked in the early morning to retain some coolness and then transported to the winery immediately. The fruit underwent a whole bunch, semi-carbonic fermentation for 16 days without any crushing or maceration. The aim was to keep the wine elegant and fresh without extracting to much tannin or phenolics. The ageing in Amphora always gives an element of texture too so I was mindful of not creating too much during fermentation. The general feel of the wine is bright and fresh with some real phenolic complexity. A very floral, citrus nose with an incredible mineral salinity on the palate. I feel like the learning process over the last 10 years (with skin contact especially) is starting to pay dividends and it’s wines like this one that really reflect that. It has great structure, with a strong element of refinement from the fermentation technique and the time in Amphora.”
