Minerally! Preserved lemon, paw paw and passionfruit, licked with slate. A fifty fifty split of Gewurztraminer and Sylvaner, a true field blend in the Alsatian sense of the word – grown side by side and picked on the same day. Half fermented in stainless steel to really see those aromatics shine and half seasoned barrel indigenous ferment, for texture.

In 2009, Syd Bradford began his Yarra Valley operation – Thick as Thieves – as a virtual business. He would buy grapes from neighbouring sites from growers hed built connections with and rent facilities to vinify. After years of hard yakka, he has now established a family winery and a vineyard of his own. He purchased the Cypress Ridge vineyard in the Yarra Valley in 2012, at the time full of Pinot Noir. Hes planted and looked for alternative varieties all over Victoria since, one of his deep loves being the Piemontese variety, Arneis. Come for the light, fresh, fruitful whites, stay for the subtle, composed, concentrated reds.