Young man, there’s no need to feel down.
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.

Bimbadgen Estate have been pairing with the Australian Museum of Contemporary Art located in Sydney, New South Wales on the basis of shared values for fourteen releases. Those values are “Creativity, uniqueness and the desire to look beyond tradition.” Each year, Bimbadgen release two wines, a red and white, with artworks selected by the MCA serving as labels for the wines. The only stipulation for the wine selection is that the fruit is sourced from New South Wales. I love how the labels serve as visual representations of the wines….or is it the other way around?

Bimbadgen Estate, MCA Series Fumé Blanc, 2014

Grant Stevens “In The Beyond”

“Grant Stevens’ “In The Beyond” combines the form of a mandala with text sourced from online personal profiles. The seemingly banal words are set before us in a pattern of concentric circles that rotate slowly and meditatively.”

The Fumé Blanc is one of the new 2014 wine-making team’s creations. Lemon meringue creamy smells overlaid with soft soapy tropicals of pulpy passionfruit innards. The palate citrusy and  crispy with acidity and “minerality” of fruit sourced from the Angullong Vineyard in Orange, yet soft through lovely oak treatment and a sprinkle of spice. Not unlike a fried ice cream dichotomy.
The label is the wine is the label. Big on the outside, tight and focussed in the middle.

RRP: $29

Alc: 12.3%

Bimbadgen Estate, MCA Series Nebbiolo, 2013

Judith Wright “Relative Conversations”

“Judith Wright’s interest in movement and performance is central to her practice. ‘Relative Conversations’ is a series of five large-scale works on paper featuring imagery that is both figurative and abstract”

Nebbiolo sourced from the Hilltops region of New South Wales….geographically not unlike the spiritual home of Nebbiolo: Barolo, in north western Italy.

Red fruits, cabbage roses and a savoury ‘rubber’ note: like the dark “pen” eraser part of a Primary School Staedtler eraser.

Highly perfumed. Medium bodied. Nebbiolo.

The tannins are the first, 3rd and last thing you notice, interspersed with fruits of red cherries and craisins. Smokiness with a lipstick-esque note: Like seeing a “broad” in a Detective “FilmNoir” light up…..

Plenty of spice and a touch of residual heat from the alcohol, but nothing to worry about.

The colour of the wine identical to the colour of the label.

RRP: $29

Alc: 14.2%

Wines samples courtesy of Bimbadgen Estate