Wildflower St Walter 2021 Wild Ale 750ml

St Walter is an Australian Wild Ale refermented with red wine grapes. It is named for Topher and his wife Bernadette's first son and the Saint Walter was an 11th century monk from the Loire Valley in France and is the patron saint of vintners.

It has been 3 years since we've made a beer with Pinot Noir grapes so it was with much excitement that we received a bin of Kooyong's estate Pinot Noir earlier this year. It was some of the most beautiful fruit we have ever had the pleasure of working with and is the first time we have worked with whole fruit from outside NSW. Luke was assistant winemaker at Kooyong before joining Wildflower in July 2017 and this collaborative beer is a wonderful manifestation of the bond between two producers.

At release, this beer has a delicate, pretty nose. Soft red fruits, cranberry, blueberry and fresh raspberries move with plum skins, aromatic cherry, marzipan almond/cherry stone aromas that layer with a spice element, stalky almost. Woody but perfumed, delicate but broody. Mild oak adds to the truly engaging nose. Not a fruit forward beer... structured and focussed instead. Sour cherry core, backed by raspberry and dried floral notes. An engaging, long palate with a phenolic spice element, a cleansing acidity brings it to a close. A beer to sit on and savour.