A little bit into vintage we got a call from Jack (Big Easy Group) saying they are opening a new pizza joint in Unley and they want to collaborate with boutique producers. The ‘Pizza Wine Series’ was born. 

The brief was to make a medium bodied pizza wine that was sure to please the crowd. The best way to do that is to get the crowd involved. 

The Bandit Pizza crew have now made a few trips down to the winery to see their creation take shape. 

The first trip was a blind, blending session. We split the group into three teams of 4 (nothing like a bit of competition) and they tasted and blended from a bunch of different wines. The teams put their blends forward and we then tasted them all blind and voted on which wine was best. 

A barrel of carbonic Cabernet Sauvignon from our Cassini vineyard, on K.I. was the base of the blend (50%).  In the final blind tasting the chosen wine was a clear winner. The majority had spoken! It’s the reason wineries have winemaking teams. The best winemakers are honest about their weaknesses and rely on each other for their particular strengths. 

The chosen blend for those wondering is, 15% tempranillo that was saigneed to new oak for ferment then rested in aged French oak. An additional 15% whole bunch shiraz, with 10% whole berry shiraz and 10% 2021 Stoke tempranillo rosé.

The second winery trip for the crew was to bottle and label their blend. We got to sit back and eat bloody good pizza while the team slogged away on the bottling line. Was the perfect crime.

It’s an honour to be the first producer in this series. Coming together like that in the name of a wine is one of the reasons we love this gig. These guys are so good at what they do. Consistently and incredibly supportive of artisan food and wine producers in SA and will no doubt give you a great experience when you give them a visit.  

Check them out and enjoy a ‘Cabernet and Friends’ pizza wine blend while you’re there. Let me know what you think of it. 

Yours, Duggie.