Lucy M 'Rachel and Antons' Cider 2022
The Wine
The apples and pears are mostly from our farm with a top up from our friends Daniel and Fleur’s enchanting back yard. The quinces are wild trees on the cliff’s edge that line our road and require the risk of losing life and limb to harvest. The fruit is crushed and allowed to soak and start ferment for 2-4 days. It is then pressed, and barrel fermented. Bottled to finish ferment in bottle and disgorged. 8.0% abv. Lucy M
All too often Ciders miss the mark for me. Not this one. To make anything or anyone in life interesting there has to be the right play between purity and wildness - which is always up to interpretation and taste. For me, this one is on point. Forget popping the Champagne when friends come round, crack this one and they’ll luv you even more for it! TC
The Details
Variety - Cider : Apple, Pears, Quinces
Country - Australia
Region - South Australia
Sub Region - Adelaide Hills
Extra - Crown Seal
Year - 2022
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker 
Anton van Klopper’s commitment to making wines without any additions and his unwavering, unapologetic attitude have made him a pinup boy of natural wine—not just in Australia, but internationally. His craft of natural wine is a straightforward exercise: it involves vinifying grapes, and grapes alone, without any additions whatsoever. Few debates in wine have been so charged or divisive but Anton’s approach remains on course.
Despite Anton’s wide renown, this is a super-small operation. The Lucy M vineyard and winery sit in the Basket Range, a picturesque pocket of the Adelaide Hills, where Anton also grows vegetables for The Summertown Aristologist—his nearby restaurant and cellar door (run together with Commune of Buttons). Anton also sources fruit from vineyards both in and around the Basket Range, which are rented and tended by him and his friend Jasper Button (all have gradually been converted to organic viticulture.)
Anton’s formal wine education has taught him to understand what he doesn’t want to do. He admits that it has taken time and plenty of practice to make completely unadulterated wines, but the risk is worthwhile. These are complex, raw and mind-bending wines to taste. They are the product of a multitude of techniques, with natural ferments including some that are aged in large-format oak and concrete eggs. All preceding to bottling without fining or filtering. They are unapologetic for what they are and that’s exactly how Anton intends it to be.
