Alpha Box & Dice Blood of Jupiter Sangiovese

A modern, cutting-edge collection of wines - just look at the labels - from the passionate and slightly bonkers trio of Dylan and Justin Fairweather and winemaker Sam Berketa. AB&D was founded in McLaren Vale in 2008 and is unconventional in its approach; there are no ‘regional, varietal or stylistic’ boundaries, just great wines from great fruit.

The plan is to craft a different wine for every letter of the alphabet - from Apostle (Shiraz-Durif blend) to Zaptung (crown-capped Prosecco). Each wine is unique and has a story and eye-catching label to go with it. A fab collection of wines that a causing quite a buzz in the wine scene.

Sangiovese,

100% Sangiovese is hand harvested from the Paxton 'Gateway Vineyard' in McLaren Vale which was planted in 2005 in brown Sandy-loam over limestone calcrete.

Grapes are destemmed with rollers out, retaining as much whole berry as possible and fermented until dry on skins(10 days) with wild yeast. The wine spends 12 months on full lees in new and old French barriques (35%new). Blended into cask for ageing for 12 more months.

The Blood of Jupiter celebrates all that is joyous about the Sangiovese grape. For the first time in AB&D's recent history, the Blood of Jupiter is a straight Sangiovese from a single vineyard.

Morello cherries, dusty, dark chocolate, blood oranges and warm spices on the nose. Soft and full palate weight with supportive tannins to the finish. Playful and active –it lights up all the parts of your mouth. An amazing thing, this wine illustrates exactly AB&D’s ambitions to nod with respect to European heritage but to have the courage to have a local expression.

Try with a juicy rare steak (obvs), porchetta or an aubergine parmigiana.

Mark - When I started at Latitude I began by exploring new world wines as I found them instantly accessible no matter the scenario or food. Alpha Box & Dice and their take on Italian varietals ticked every box for me right from the off. Not trying to be overtly complex or ostentatious, the Blood of Jupiter had everything it needed to impress throughout two sides of an LP, keeping you intrigued, nosing the glass and being gently drawn away from the music long enough to make an impression was exactly what I was looking for. I started a long and enduring relationship with this wine, enthusiastically recommending it to all the relevant parties and familiarising myself in way I haven't with any other wine in the shop (so much so the good people at AB&D sent me some merch after I sent a proclamation of how much I enjoyed their wares). A wine to put a smile on your face and improve any situation whether it be shared with friends, drank with food or simply enjoyed on your own in your own little world, a fantastic Aussie take on a classic Italian varietal.