Craft vs Science

The brand-new first solo pursuit of young winemaker and Dell’uva cellar hand Stuart Bloomfield, following a dozen vintages in the Barossa, Hunter Valley, Los Caneros, Napa and NZ. An inaugural release of Grenache, Touriga Naçional and G.S.T. Red Blend landed in 2021, with Cabernet and Shiraz set to follow. Volumes are tiny, typically just one or 2 barrels of each label, and fruit is sourced in Bethany from mostly young vines of Stuart’s parents-in-law, Rob and Anna Schrapel. Contract crushed and pressed at Bethany Wines, Stuart matures his wines in Schrapel’s shed. Larger proportions of new oak than usual for young-vine fruit is seamlessly integrated, thanks to fermentation in barrels – a logistically tricky craft that Stuart picked up at Provenance Vineyards in the Napa, and seems to have mastered in his first commercial attempt. Classy labels adorn sensibly lightweight bottles. -TYSON STELZER