13 Vino Volta Wines including some of the best innovative expression of Swan Valley Chenin Blanc & Grenache…
Chenin blanc is in a revival phase currently, much of it thanks to Cliff
Erin Larkin, Haliday Wine Companion
Though it’s a young winery, Vino Volta has already made waves in the wine industry, garnering praise from the new wave andtraditionalists alike
legendaustralia.com
Garth Cliff’s name is in the Top Winemaker List of Young Gun of Wine
(Being the finalist at the 2020 annual winemaker awards)
Saturday June 28th
Hosted by Owner & Winemaker Garth Cliff
Masterclass: 3-5pm, 13 Wines with nibbles $65
Exclusive Blackwell Room Dinner: 7pm, 13 Wines & 5 Courses $120
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Young Gun of Wine Finalist 2020
Garth Cliff spent 20 years making wine across Australia and in the US, with a decade at Houghton before striking out on his own with partner Kristen McGann. And while many a Western Australian winemaker would feel drawn to the glamour regions, like Margaret River, Cliff was most passionate about the deeply unfashionable Swan District. Under the Vino Volta label, Cliff focuses primarily on the region’s strengths, which are chenin blanc and grenache, with the Swan having many well-sited vines of significant age. Chenin is given four distinct voices: the ‘old school’ treatment with bright fruit to the fore; it gets barrel fermented with plenty of lees; is raised under flor; and given fizz in a vibrant pét-nat. Grenache also gets the pét-nat treatment, as well as a spicy mid-weight rework with some whole bunch, and it also contributes to a blend with tempranillo and touriga.
Younggunofwine.com -
Kristen has a double degree in Viticulture and Oenology and has worked with Vietti in Piedmont.
She has a love affair with Italian wine and from WA for many years worked for/with the sales and promotional teams of one of Australia’s most significant Barolo and Barbaresco importers.
After having a family and developing the Vino Volta brand with her husband, Kristen then founded her own wine distribution business which has now gravitated once more to having a serious Piedmont emphasis. -
Swan Valley is Western Australia’s oldest wine region, and one of the oldest in all of Australia, first planted in 1829. The region has had a long time to figure out the grapes that work in its warm climate – so appropriate, old vine plantings are plentiful – but historically wines were often made in a ripe and robust, commercially-oriented, old Australian way.
“[I have] seen a lot of grapes from around the region not reaching their full potential. I have always wanted to focus in on these vineyards, work with the growers and play around with the winemaking to make an array of expressive wines that speak about where they are from,” says Garth Cliff, the proprietor of Vino Volta (along with partner Kristen McGann).
Though Garth and Kristen look like spring chickens, they between them have over 40 years experience in the wine industry. Garth was the winemaker at Houghton – Swan Valley’s oldest, biggest, and most renowned winery – for 10 years before he and Kristen started Vino Volta in 2018.
Though it’s a young winery, Vino Volta has already made waves in the wine industry, garnering praise from the new wave and traditionalists alike. The focus here is old-vine grenache and chenin, with novelties like skin-contact frontignac and gewürztraminer, a few over-delivering pét-nats, and a liqueur verdelho, blended from base wines that date back a whopping 60 years. With compelling and whimsical names (like “Intimations of Immortality” and “Post-Modern Seriousism”) and dynamic landscape labels, these wines deliver a package that has something for everyone. Garth and Kristen’s sense of adventure is only matched by their commitment to making the best wine possible. They’ve single-handedly redefined what the Swan Valley is capable of, and they’re just getting started.
legendaustralia.com -
Vino Volta was founded in 2018 by Garth Cliff and Kristen McGann - wine industry lifers. A spirit of experimentation and adventure, underpins Vino Volta, as does a focus on approachability. We craft vibrant and textural wines with a focus on natural ferment and low interference. We predominantly source from Swan Valley and extend this to a couple of other regions with a focus on warm climate suited fruit. Swan Valley and Swan District (185+ years old in grape/wine producing) is a wine region just outside of Perth and is our home. Vino Volta is focusing on Chenin Blanc (Swan District can make world-class) and Grenache our regional stars. We make multiple expressions of this ranging from Pet Nat to seriously good and drinkable whites and reds. We express old varieties of the region in a non-traditional way through our Different Skins Frontignac/Gewurtztraminer. Your nose tells you sweet and amazingly perfumed and then it is dry and savoury on the palate and one of our favourites. We are exploring warm climate suited varieties that naturally attain balance and require low inputs in the winery to produce bright textural wines which are always our aim. We manage and buy grapes from the best vineyards in the region. We are Terroir focused and looking at older vines and soil types suited to each variety. Looking at growers that are managing their vineyards using organic methods and growers I would classify this as a regenerative/balanced approach where soils and vines are looked after well but there is some intervention as they see required. In our region, this is a complex situation as we need to build financial sustainability for growers in small vineyards and then work on changing management practices and we see this as a long game.
Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine List and Menu
Funky and Fearless Chenin Blanc 2019, Our Price $41
Fruit from Rocket's vineyard, hand picked and pressed to old oak, wild ferment, monthly bâtonnage. This has that stern, textural edge that chenin can have, plumped out by crushed cashew, native bush blossoms and oyster shell. It's still sheepy, it's layered, and the acidity that weaves in and out of the fruit is salty and very fine. A lot going on here, and a beautiful expression of one of the many directions in which chenin will be amiably pushed.
95 Points Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion (August 2021)
Funky and Fearless Chenin Blanc 2021, Our Price $41
The moderate 2021 vintage is here to see in the definition and cut of this wine. The 2021 Funky and Fearless Chenin Blanc is showing a lithe cut of acidity in the mouth, alongside an array of yellow and white fruits and flowers. There are daffodils, white tea, preserved citrus, Golden Delicious apples, white pepper and citrus pith, very defined. Gorgeous.
94+ Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate ( January 2024)
Funky and Fearless Chenin Blanc 2023 (Current Release), Our Price $33
The remarkable Rocket vineyard in the Swan and the stellar '23 vintage make for one very explosive and memorable wine. Lime zest, passionfruit curd, spiced pear and a mealy frangipane tart filling nuance to it, anchoring it all. A mineral charry cadence slips in and, through its wondrous acid line, drives the remarkable length to eventual completion. It finishes with preserved lemon and some crystalline ginger and nutmeg elements. Complex, powerful and resolute drinking.
96 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (May 2025)
1st Course
Nothing Wrong With Old Skool Chenin Blanc 2019, Our Price $37
The 2019 Nothing Wrong with Old Skool Chenin Blanc shows salted green apple and a profusion of exotic spices (star anise, cut fennel, clove). The wine is far spicier and tauter than the 2018 tasted beside it; it's a stylistic cleave that comes from a cooler vintage compared with a slightly warmer one. 2019 was mild and "one of those years. Rainfall was adequate, but it was just a nice mild summer overall without any significant heat or rainfall events. And that’s where we are this year," explains Cliff. There is finesse here.
94 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (January 2024)
Nothing Wrong With Old Skool Chenin Blanc 2023 (Current Release),Our Price $29
This is such a radiant wine. It opens with freshly cut apple, pineapple and pineberry. There is a refreshing tonic-like quality, lacing everything together like a stream of sparkling river water over polished bedrock. A tiny bit of walnut bitterness on the finish, kept in check and character-building. Interesting, well made and, as with all the Vino Volta wines, personality amped up.
93 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (March 2025)
2nd Course
Sole Bambino Vermentino 2024 (Current Release), Our Price $30
Round and rich with fruit intensity operating at high frequencies, pawpaw, preserved lemon, green mango, ripe nectarine, honeydew melon, and some nutmeg dusted through the mid-palate. There are some marzipan elements to this sans sweetness. Texturally, it is glorious, with its progressive grip unveiled by some time on skins before pressing to large old oak and steel tank for fermentation. A tidy yet expansive drink wrapped up in a richly mineral and briny sizzle. This is a delicious, expressive representation of vermentino. Impressive.
95 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (February 2025)
Different Skins Gewurtztraminer / Frontignac 2023 (Current Release), Our Price $33
3rd Course
Pezzonovante Grenache 2020, Our Price $53
Pezzonovante Grenache 2021, Our Price $53
Old bush vines, in excess of 65 years. Gravel and sand. This is a medium-bodied grenache, bright and crunchy. As with other wines in the suite, it feels a little underdone; a little under-ripe, demanding an extra degree of alcohol to really shine. Yet clearly this is a stylistic choice and one that allows for easy swigging, best with a chill. Sour cherry, red pastille and a hint of dill to mescal from some whole-bunch inclusion, concluding with a gentle astringency across the pleasing finish. Drink now. Screw cap.
92 Points Ned Godwin, jamessuckling.com ( October 2023)
Pezzonovante Grenache 2023 (Current Release), Our Price $45
This errs more on the side of light than medium in body and, for its delicate weight, it carries poise, power and balance. Iodine, rendered Guanciale, violet and rhubarb crumble lead ahead of a core of mineral ferrous rock, fennel frond and subtle Chinese five-spice. There is nothing overworked here, and it feels as though the essence of the site and fruit has been captured and held suspended for our enjoyment.
95 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (February 2025)
4th Course
Post Modern Seriousism 2023 (Current Release), Our Price $29
A bright and pulpy wine framed by lilac and violet lift. Pretty from the outset with cherry, spiced plum and macerated strawberry. Its intensity of juice-like fruit acts as an antidote to hefty structure and tannin. Spice-crusted meats, cola and sarsaparilla here, too.
92 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (February 2025)
La Chingadera Tempranillo / Touriga / Grenache / Shiraz 2021, Our Price $33
This year's release is tempranillo, touriga, shiraz and grenache. Fermented wild with some whole bunches; three to four weeks on skins before 12 to 14 months in old large-format oak. It's sweet-fruited, lifted, dense and lively at once. The Swan Valley contribution really drives some bass notes into this. There are woodsy spice and floral characters but then there's also tar, leather, beef stock and cherry plum. The tannin profile is grainy and good, too. This is full-on interesting.
93 Points Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion (May 2023)
5th Course
Intimations of Immortality Liqueur Verdelho NV 500ml, Our Price $78
Though labelled a liqueur, a style synonymous with the Swan District, it is indeed a fortified wine. The grapes are left to ripen and dry on the vine in the best vintages, and the base wines date back to '57. It is every bit of luscious drinking you'd expect; the fruit is blisteringly sweet but, more than the sum of its raisined characters, there is marmalade, hazelnut skin, coffee, ripe pineapple and burnt toast. The texture, however, is the true pulse of the wine and is not dissimilar to melted chocolate; it rolls over the palate and upon itself, rippling ribbons of flavour as it goes. A multidimensional drinking experience. Bravo.
96 Points Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (April 2025)