# Art Series Lagrein (2021)

- **Producer:** New Era Vineyards
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Lagrein
- **Region:** South Australia, Australia
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €20
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 15–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, plum, blackberry, violet, liquorice, black pepper, eucalyptus, chocolate, cedar, tar, leather, smoke

## About this wine

New Era Vineyards is owned and operated by the Baxter family, with Iain Baxter at the winemaking helm. This wine is dedicated to the family patriarch, Bob Baxter, celebrating his lifetime of dedication to the Australian wine trade. Following the devastating 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfire which severely impacted their Adelaide Hills estate, the family adapted by sourcing climate-resilient alternative varieties like Lagrein from partner growers in the Limestone Coast. This region is celebrated for its ancient limestone seabeds and rich, red terra rossa soils, which provide an exceptional foundation for this characterful Northern Italian grape.

## Interesting facts

- Dedicated on the label as 'Bob’s favourite wine' to honor the family patriarch, Bob Baxter, a veteran of the Australian wine trade.
- Sourced from the Limestone Coast after the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfire devastated New Era's home vineyards in the Adelaide Hills.
- Uses a split winemaking method where half the wine undergoes an extended two-month skin maceration to build deep color and structure.

## Food pairing

The robust structure, high acidity, and bold tannins of this Lagrein require rich, protein-heavy dishes to soften the palate. Game meats, slow-cooked lamb, and rich stews work beautifully as the wine's acidity cuts through the fat, while the intense dark fruit and spice notes complement savory, herb-infused sauces.

## Wine making process

The winemaking process begins with hand-selecting premium fruit, which is destemmed and lightly crushed into one-ton open fermenters for a ten-day fermentation with hand plunging three times daily. To balance freshness and structure, the batch is split: fifty percent is pressed off early into seasoned French oak barrels to preserve vibrant primary fruit aromatics, while the remaining fifty percent undergoes an extended post-fermentation maceration on the skins for two months under CO2 to build deep color and soften the mid-palate. Both parcels are then blended and matured in seasoned French oak for twelve months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.