Bent Road
Star Cellar Door
0418 190 104
bentroadwine.com.au
Of all of the cellar doors featured in the annual awards, few are as idiosyncratic as Bent Road. It’s not the easiest winery to find and you will be traversing dirt roads to get there, but it’s worth it. And, if you have not been in a church for a while, that’s about to change. The tasting hall is an old wooden church, built in 1901 and relocated hundreds of kilometres to a hill next to the winery. Ask the team about how it almost disappeared down that hill when it first arrived. Glen Robert and the crew are making seriously good wines and some very different ones as well (some of the better orange wines made anywhere). They use huge, ancient barrels, buried amphorae (Georgian qvevri), even square barrels. As well as the primary label, look out for the La Petite Mort range with its truly unique offerings. KEN GARGETT
OUTSTANDING WINE: 2020 La Petite Mort Qvevri Gentil White, A$35