La Cantina Preservative Free DRY RED and Italian varietals now available at Dan Murphy
Preservative Free Italian varietals from King Valley at Dan Murphy
Who hasn’t suffered a “cracking great headache” after consuming too much wine at a soiree or dinner party with friends and family,.. or at a christmas party over the course of the “silly season?” ,..and of course many astute observers put this down to the excessive amounts of C200 or Anti Oxidant that new world winemakers are inclined to use to preserve their wines and stop them from oxidising.. Now before you accuse me of being unfair,..consider the myriad tales and anecdotal evidence from Aussies drinking copious amounts of Albarino or Tempranillo in Spain or Chablis or Cabernet in France without suffering any malaise in the form of hangover symptoms or headache the next day ?
Is this perhaps due to other factors,.. because on holidays you are fit and well and in exuberant form?,.. or is it really related to the winemaking practices with many authorities suggesting that European Winemakers are inclined to use less Anti- oxidant in their wines and this results in a wine that doesn’t induce a headache?
Of course the medical reasons for the headache are quite simple,..Many wine consumers are sensitive to Anti-Oxidant and Preservatives and experience some sort of allergic reaction,..or a constriction of the nasal passages and sinuses or both,.and also a frontal headache. Consequently there are many people would still like to enjoy a glass of wine without experiencing these unpleasant side effects.and of course there are also many people who are allergic to Sodium Glutamate or MSG which is used excessively in Asian cooking,..and in combination with the Anti oxidant can cause an even bigger headache.I
As a Wine merchant I often had requests from people suffering this malaise so it is a good thing that Dan Murphy is conscious of this problem and seems to be addressing it by introducing this range of Preservative Free wines from La Cantina.. Whilst they don’t have a specific section for Preservative Free wines they do have a limited range interspersed around the various sections.
So what is a Preservative Free Wine?
Certain wines that are described as preservative-free as they have no added sulphur dioxide (so2). This is sometimes labelled as preservative C220, or just plain sulphites.
“It’s almost impossible for a wine to be 100% sulphite-free as trace amounts are produced during fermentation, but some winemakers argue that adding more stops a wine from developing new and interesting flavours. Others believe that, because of their antimicrobial properties, adding sulphites is necessary to defend a wine against bad bacteria and keep it stable for longer.”
Despite popular opinion, unless you are allergic to or intolerant of sulphites, consuming them in wine won’t generally cause you any harm, but they are blamed for headaches!
“Winemakers who don’t add preservatives tend to focus less on making sure shiraz tastes like shiraz, and more on letting the fruit and the vineyard tell a story-these wines are generally vibrant, a little wild and jam-packed with flavour.”
In New South Wales we have several different preservative free wines including Botobolar Preservative Free Shiraz from Mudgee and Thistle Hill Preservative Free Shiraz ,..
But never in my wildest imagination would I have know that there are now some great Italian varietals mad by La Cantina that also come as Preservative free wines and they are from King Valley which is well known as the epicentre of Italian varietals in Australia!
From my personal exprience to wit my recent Tasting in situ in the stunning King Valley,…I can tell you that La Cantina ,..does some great Preservative Free wines starting with a really good Pinot Grigio,.. and right through to their famous Dry Red blend and the Italian varietals that you will find below.
Their wines are beautiful, different to many modern styles but delicious! The Corsini family has a passion for making traditional, no added preservative and vegan-friendly wines.
La Cantina King Valley is a small family owned winery situated 42kms south of Wangaratta in the King Valley. Here, the Corsini Family, make wines using methods passed down through the generations. Our wines are made using estate grown fruit following traditional Tuscan processes retaining the full characteristics of each grape variety. All of their wines have no preservatives added and are vegan friendly.
This method brings out the full characteristics of each wine, so you can enjoy the fresh, fragrant flavours of the King Valley. Their most popular wines is the preservative free Dry Red. It is reputed to be one of the the best preservative or organic wines around and they have a good assortment of both whites and reds, again preservative free. Apparently there is a laborious process the wines go through to prevent oxygen from contaminating the wine through all the steps of the process and their commitment to creating an old world wine making tradition and keeping it in the family is impressive!
Nice wines, with the practice of no added preservatives and not filtered, makes it very nice to drink for all! Highly recommend this beautiful Cellar Door visit! And their offerings are quite a wide variety, and well priced.
Wine Writer and Publisher Axel Ritenis with Peter Corsini in November 2021
The setting of his cellar is unique and stunning with a touch of Tuscany. By far La Cantina is the best winery in the King Valley. I will be ordering from Gino again very soon.
