Before making Footscray’s favourite beers, the team from Hop Nation were making wine – and old habits die hard. As such, after the enormous success of the brewery, Sam and Dunc decided to get back to winemaking and produce some seriously good, value for money, small batch wine from small parcels of fruit across Victoria. All their wines are grown and made using minimal intervention and sustainable practices.

Single site Pinot Gris from Benalla, Victoria. Handpicked in late February 2021, before being whole bunch pressed to tank for natural settling. The juice was then transferred to a fermentation tank where natural yeast fermented the juice to dryness. The wine was naturally stabilised over winter on lees in the tank until it was ready for bottling. A small amount of sulphur was added prior to bottling; the wine was then transferred to the bottling line, unfiltered and unfined. Refreshing, fruit-driven and vibrant. The wine displays subtle stone fruit and pear characters. On the palate a refreshing line of acidity helps balance the texture created from the time on lees.