Ministry of Clouds

Ministry of Clouds is the creation of Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood and it’s now a dozen years since they decided to leave the security of the corporate wine world (the ministry) for the adventure (the clouds) of their own wine venture. And it’s been quite a journey thus far.

From the 2012 vintage their first five releases all rated between 94 and 97 points in the Halliday Wine Companion and earned them a spot in the Top Ten New Wineries for the year. Basing themselves in McLaren Vale, they sourced red fruit from around the Vale, securing parcels from some of the most venerable and sought-after old-vine Shiraz and Grenache vineyards.

To these plots, they added Tempranillo from the Vale, Riesling from the Clare and Chardonnay first from Tasmania and now from the Adelaide Hills. And then from the 2016 vintage came a new flagship wine, Kintsugi, named for the Japanese art of ‘golden joinery’ used to resurrect ancient, broken pottery.

The big step up though occurred in that same year with their purchase of the 9 ha Chase Vineyard and its 650 million year-old Onkaparinga Rocks geology. And so their second single vineyard Shiraz was born, joining the original highly lauded Blewitt Springs interpretation.

Since then, they have set about augmenting their 6 hectares of Shiraz with their own plots of Tempranillo, Mencia, Carignan, Cinsault and Picpoul. In 2019 they processed their first vintage at their small winery at the Chase, releasing a new varietal Mencia, a new Grenache Carignan and their first bottling of Picpoul.

Which brings us to 2024 and the launch of two new Single Site Grenaches, drawing on Bernice and Julian’s experience sourcing and studying old-vine Grenache over the last decade or so. Released in tiny volume from the 2023 vintage the Silk & Stone (Clarendon) and Spice Garden (Blewitt Springs) Grenaches are both beautiful and insightful interpretations of the complex geology of McLaren Vale.

Ministry of Clouds' wines show careful attention to detail; they are wines that speak of the land and reveal the essence of the season. They are wines of flavour and texture, yet wines that show artful restraint in their delicately poised balance of ripeness and tension. They are wines that beg to be shared at a convivial table and consumed with all manner of complementary foods, flavours and textures.

With these new releases, new varieties in the ground, new concrete eggs in service and a new expanded winery, the Ministry of Clouds journey is just gathering steam.

2023 Clare Valley Riesling
100 % hand-picked Riesling. In 2022 75 % was sourced from a red loam over limestone site on Watervale's 'golden mile'. The balance from the lean, rocky soils of the Penwortham Hills and a cooler, late-ripening site in the Sevenhill sub-region. The fruit is gently crushed and de-stemmed before a gentle pressing, and a cool ferment in stainless steel. 12.5 % alc/vol.

'From the third consecutive La Nina vintage we enjoyed another cool growing season, with flavour developing slowly over time, but with the chance of disease higher than previously, time walking vineyards was essential! The 2023 vintage comprises about 93% grapes from the terrarossa/ red loam laid over limestone of the renowned Watervale subregion often referred to as "The Golden Mile", with picking times staggered to retain natural acidity. The balance is sourced from the lean, hungry and rocky soils characteristic of the cooler and later ripening hills of Penwortham.
From a range of individual picks separated by more than 3 weeks, settled naturally post press, with pressings retained and transferred to oak for wild fermentation, the heart of the blend was cool fermented in stainless and aged upon fine lees from 4 months. With high natural acids present, coupled with relatively low Baumés, each parcel exhibited beautifully delicate and fine aromas, lavender and lime leaf, lemon pith, bath salts and mineral as the bedrock. Classic Clare citrus notes are complimented by the mouth-watering chalky and mineral texture on the palate, finishing with a fine and taut acid line .' Bernice and Julian.

Watervale and Penwortham. I sat down to taste these wines with co-winemaker Julian Forwood, and I said, this smells of lavender, and he was quite happy about that. Pretty, perfumed, lavender, and pink grapefruit, lime. Juicy, firm powdery texture, pure and long, with a cinch of refreshing tonic bitterness. The mouth-feel of it is excellent, but not at the expense of purity and classic expression of Clare Riesling. Top shelf. 95 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

2023 McLaren Vale Picpoul - 2024 due October
Picpoul is an ancient variety of the Mediterranean Coast, farmed since the 1300s and famed for its lemony power and natural ability to retain acid in the sunshine!  Briny and maritime in is disposition Picpoul is renowned as the perfect Oyster wine.

‘A refreshingly zingy and aromatic wine, with lifted notes of lime, lemon myrtle, nashi pear, and white flowers. In the mouth this crisp and crunchy vibe continues with an intense fleshy verbena line, plus the minerality of limestone, brine and a subtle creaminess from the lees makes it mouthwatering!’ Bernice and Julian.

The cuvee that has grown most inexorably, impressing itself well beyond the easy-drinking mantle. Desert pear, wild fennel and a salty chalkiness, with no shortage of textural intrigue serviced by the judicious phenolic handling. Barely mid-weighted, belying a thrust of intensity, raciness and a bit of chew around the seams. A wine for everyday pounding. Drink or hold...but ageing is not the point. Screw cap. 93 points, Ned Goodwin MW, Jamessuckling.com, September 2023

2022 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay
A pure and tightly wound wine showing the muscle and intensity of the low yielding Birdwood site, and the fragile acid line synonymous with fine, late ripening and deeply cool Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay. A shy and somewhat restrained nose exuding white flowers, green nectarine characters, and subtle hints of nougat and gingery wood spice. On the palate, a bedrock of chalky minerality supports a core of intense stone fruit, framing its lingering acidity.

Without having the luxury (or limitation!) of a pre-ordained family history in wine, we relish the freedom and opportunity to cast our net a little wider from our home in McLaren Vale, hoping to capture the freshness and vibrancy of the cool Adelaide Hills… Bernice and Julian.

Part came from Birdwood, but it's the Piccadilly portion that provides the quality of this beautifully cadenced Chardonnay, malolactic fermentation for 30% of the wine after fermentation in new and used French oak, plus nine months maturation. Expensive to make quality the dividend. 96 points, James Halliday’s Top 100 wines 2023, The Weekend Australian, November 2023

2022 Grenache Carignan
70 % Grenache from 80+ year-old vines planted in a northerly block atop the Onkaparinga Gorge; 30 % Carignan from the adjacent MoC Chase Vineyard. All hand-picked and fermented in open vats, with 85 % whole berries and 15 % whole bunches. Carignan typically retains good natural acidity and it amongst the last to pick each harvest. Long, slow ferment to build tannin complexity, followed by maturation in a mix of inert tanks and old French oak puncheons for 16 months. 14.4 % alc/vol.

The heart of this wine is a 1940’s planted bush vine Grenache block planted into a northerly slope atop the Onkaparinga Gorge, which we blend with Carignan off our own adjacent estate. Both parcels were hand harvested, fermented in traditional open vats, and gently basket pressed. An assemblage of 6 separate open ferments ranging from 2 – 6 weeks on skins, all fermented wild, and worked very gently with daily hand plunging to preserve freshness, but allowed the relatively long maceration necessary to build tannin line and mineral complexity. After basket pressing the parcels were matured in old french oak puncheons upon their gross lees for about 6 months to provide maturation but not oak flavour. Bernice and Julian.

Always a delicious wine, this. Often the best cuvee of the range, with the carignan (30%) delivering a thirst-slaking kit of gristly tannic mettle, mitigating any sense of floozy fruit. Full-weighted, although as with so much of the range, a little lighter and fresher of feel. A subtle hint of reduction confers tension and floral lift, before dried raspberry, lilac, orange balm and tea tree splay broad and long. Excellent drinking. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 94 points, Ned Goodwin MW, Jamessuckling.com, September 2023

2023 review
The 2023 Grenache Carignan leads with strawberry and cranberry, star anise and pink peppercorns. It is light and fine aromatically, and this is reflected in the translucent yet vibrant color in the glass. In the mouth, the wine is lacy fine, littered with red apples and brine, dried herbs and sweet paprika. The approximately 20% whole bunches in the ferment provides capaciousness and exoticism—it was on the skins for three to five weeks. The Grenache is from the earliest-ripening parcel (the San Remo vineyard, planted on rocks, at around 200 meters in elevation) at the top of the Onkaparinga gorge, and this makes up 70% of the cuvée, the balance is Carignan. Part of the whole was co-fermented, but not in its entirety. Wild roses and sweet cherry follow through the finish, making for an emphatically lovely close to an already beautiful drinking experience. This is all liquid flow and seamlessness. I love it. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 94 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, September 2024

2023 McLaren Vale Tempranillo Grenache
75 % Tempranillo, 25 % Grenache. Based upon four vineyards of Tempranillo (Ribera del Douro clones), from cool sites in Blewitt Springs and McLaren Foothills and our own estate vineyard atop the Onkaparinga Ridge. Blended with old vine Grenache from a range of blocks up to a 100 years of age. We destemmed and fermented in large open vats, with daily pump overs of the 18 different ferments. All ferments were from indigenous yeasts and worked gently to preserve delicacy, but time on skins was extended in 2023 up to 3 weeks to further build tannin line. After basket pressing the wine was matured in a mixture of stainless steel, old French oak puncheons, and a large 5000 litre old oak foudre for maturation before bottling in December 2023… 14.4 % alc/vol.

'This wine combines lifted notes of pomegranate, sarsaparilla, violets and nutmeg typical of McLaren Vale Tempranillo, with the red berried perfume and succulence of old vine Grenache. This medium bodied wine is pretty, but deeply flavoured, and deliberately moreish. A lithe and juicy wine, it errs on the blood orange, cherry, red berry spectrum on the palate supported by a long line of ferrous tannin.' Bernice and Julian.

2023 McLaren Vale Grenache
It comprises 8 different Grenache ferments with varying amounts of whole bunch ranging from a couple of whole berry ferments to the highest being 28% whole bunch, skin time varying between 3 to 6 weeks. The 8 ferments are off 4 vineyards… 3 of which all neighbour each other in Blewitt Springs… one planted in 1930, another in 1939 and the last we believe was planted in 1940s. These 3 vineyards make up 82% of the blend. The last is from the oldest part of the Smart vineyard in Clarendon planted in 1920. So super cool to be able to work with these amazing vineyard sites.

‘Showing old vine intensity without heaviness, fragrant cranberry and wild cherry fruit lift, violets, earth, and garrigue herbs: the palate is pure with calming depth and intensity, but kept necessarily fresh by grainy tannins and a bright line of natural acid.’ Bernice and Julian.

The 2023 Grenache comprises a blend of vineyards from McLaren Vale, three in Blewitt Springs (aournd 60% of the blend), and one in Clarendon (the balance). The picking dates cross over a wider aperture of time given the breadth of vineyards; in 2023, this spanned approximately three weeks, and to give some context, in 2024, that aperture was significantly contracted. In the mouth, the tannins are chalky and finely grippy. This is perhaps aided and abetted by the maturation vessels: these are demi-muid, old puncheons and concrete. The wine is racked only when absolutely necessary, and the total is comprised of nine different batches. It was made with 19% whole bunches. The wine was blended right at the end prior to bottling. This is less floral than the Grenache Carignan tasted prior, but it has more textural complexity and stamina through the finish. This is a beautiful wine, an eloquent message of McLaren Vale Grenache. It is light in the glass, intense in the mouth, saturating and sapid. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 95 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, September 2024

2023 Spice Garden Single Site Grenache
Coming from Blewitt Springs from a vineyard planted 1939 (bush vines) in white sand over ironstone. Hand picked with a little whole-bunch in the ferment and kept on skins for 3 weeks with daily hand plunging and aged on gross lees for 7 months in old French oak puncheons before bottling in December 2023.
The 2023 Spice Garden Single Site Grenache vineyard is right in the heart of Blewitt Springs, bush vines planted in 1939 on squeaky white beach sand. Aromatiucally, the wine leads with Boscobel rose and raspberry seed, red apple skins, black cherry and star anise. The "minty" aspect of star anise leads into things like shaved fennel and a hint of tarragon. I love that about it. It's a cool offset to the red fruit. In the mouth, the tannins are silky, chewy and seamless. It provides a perfume in the mouth that helps to redefine the palate once again. It's sort of circular in that way. This wine makes you think more about it—about its flow and shape, its presence and impact. This is a beautiful wine. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 96 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, September 2024

2023 Silk & Stone Single Site Grenache
Coming from vines planted 1922 (bush vines) in dark loam over ironstone and clay in Clarendon on a steep south facing site. Hand picked with a little whole-bunch in the ferment and kept on skins for 3 and a half weeks with daily hand plunging and aged on gross lees for 7 months in old French oak puncheons before bottling in December 2023.
The 2023 Silk & Stone Single Site Grenache is from the Smart vineyard, picked across two different picks (a week apart), and only five hundred liters was made. The vines are the 1922 plantings, the oldest part of the vineyard. This is the highest-elevation Grenache vineyard in Clarendon, right up against the Adelaide Hills. Aromatically, the wine is loaded is baking spices: cinnamon cassia, fresh grated nutmeg, distant clove and star anise, ash, incense and lavender. The soils up in Clarendon are heavier than down in Blewitt Springs, for example, yet the elevation allows for a distinct perfume. In the mouth, the wine is full of raspberry and strawberry, redcurrants and red apple skins. The tannins are of course the highlight here for me: lacy, gently gritty and profuse. It's chewy, and I like that. This is a lovely, wispy wine. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 95 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, September 2024

2022 McLaren Vale Mencia
100 % Mencia from the ancient rocks at the Chase Vineyard at Onkaparinga Gorge. Hand picked, with 12% whole-bunches retained, the balance lightly de-stemmed to whole-berries, then cold soaked for 3 days to capture aromatics. Fermented wild in a traditional open vat, with very gentle plunging twice daily, then basket pressed after 9 days on skins to old French oak vessels for 12 months maturation. 13.9 % alc/vol.

‘Deeply purple in colour, this wine has the lifted floral aromatics of Mencía showing sour cherry, pomegranate, and black liquorice. On the palate, the layered succulent fruit characters that Mencía is known for come to the fore, showing mid-weight blackcurrant and raspberry fruit, built upon a bedrock of mineral laced tannin.’ Bernice and Julian.

Partial carbonic, complemented by fully fledged extractive fermentation. Reminiscent of cool climate syrah. Aromatic violet punch. Underlying flecks of tomato leaf, dill and garden herb, but nothing untoward. Purple fruits and iodine, all taut and crunchy and gently saline, as a scape of gritty astringency reaches broadly across the mid-weighted palate. A gorgeous wine to drink in great drafts. Preferably on a daily basis. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 93 points, Ned Goodwin MW, Jamessuckling.com, September 2023

2023 McLaren Vale Shiraz
2023 was a relatively cool vintage which allowed gradual flavour development. We combined four separate picks from our own Onkaparinga Rocks vineyard, and a sandy dry grown Blewitt Springs site. Approximately 17% whole bunches were retained in the total blend, the rest gently destemmed to preserve whole berries for balance. Of the 12 separate ferments all were wild, caps were wet twice daily to assess flavour and colour extraction. Maceration on skins was extended up to 6 weeks for some parcels to build complexity and tannin line. After a gentle basket press, the wine was matured for 6 months in a combination of French oak hogsheads, puncheons, demi muids, foudres, and a concrete egg.

'An exercise in slender power, bringing early picked McLaren Vale Shiraz characters exhibited by cool blue and red fruit with layers of coal dust and earth to entice, supported by a gentle oak creaminess, which progresses to the palate exhibiting a deep fruit weight kept bright, nervy, and fleshy and filed down nicely by a fine and mineral tannin line.' Bernice and Julian.

2021 Single Vineyard Blewitt Springs Shiraz
All fruit is sourced from a single vineyard, a 53 year old Blewitt Springs block owned by the Patritti family. All fruit is hand harvested and gently de-stemmed to enure some whole berries remain during the ferment. Cold soaked for 4 days before fermentation some whole bunches remain. The ferment is plunged gently daily before basket pressing into old Francois Frères and Saury barriques for 11 months maturation.

'A surprisingly cool fruited, but dense and bright expression of Blewitt Springs Shiraz. Gently complex, with spicy blue and black berries, layers of nutmeg, violets, and a gentle creamy nuttiness from French oak. On the palate, it exhibits a finely wrought core of dark berried fruit, framed by persistent sandy tannins, and kept taut by a line of natural acidity.' Bernice and Julian.

From a celebrated dry-grown vineyard planted in 1960; hand-picked, gently destemmed to preserve the intact berries; open fermented and matured in new and used French puncheons. This is such a lovely shiraz, alive with black berry fruits, and touches of savoury tannins, dark chocolate and licorice that all hang together. 97 points, James Halliday Wine Companion, July 2024

2021 Single Vineyard Onkaparinga Rocks Shiraz
Planted into a steep southerly facing slope, The Chase Vineyard is characterised by a very thin veneer of grey loam, supported by a deep bedrock of sandstone, slaty siltstone and ancient rocks. Dating back to 650 million years of age this geology is some of the oldest planted to wine grapes anywhere in the world.
100% Shiraz, hand-picked in the cool of the night to retain freshness and delicacy. Destemmed but not crushed to retain 100 % whole-berries, open-fermented, plunged daily and then basket-pressed to a mix of old and new French oak puncheons for 18 months maturation. 14.5 % alc/vol.

A lifted but deep expression of McLaren Vale shiraz, tending towards blue and back fruits, Garrigue herbs, picked necessarily early to retain freshness, and layered in shyly supporting French Oak. Powerful on the palate, this wine is an interplay between the waves of intense crunchy plumlike fruit, and the tensile strength of the mineral and tannin laden structure beneath. Bernice and Julian.

The colour isn’t as bright as its Blewitt Springs sibling, but it revels in its deep dark chocolate and allspice overcoat. It is from the Ministry’s home block on the steep south-facing The Chase vineyard. Oozes character and drinkability. Nice touch. 96 points, James Halliday Wine Companion, July 2024

2020 Kintsugi
Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of ‘golden joinery’, the creation of enduring beauty from broken fragments of ancient pottery as they are pieced together with lacquer laced with gold. It befits a desire to meticulously blend only the very best parcels of old vine fruit from a single year. Kintsugi is thus the best Southern Rhone inspired wine that Bernice and Julian can create each year, no matter its components.
Aiming to make a reserve Rhone blend from the very best parcels in any given year, Kintsugi is an assemblage of only our most favourite ferments, selected for their purity, distinctive tannin line, and their potential for savoury longevity. In 2020 the heart of the wine is 62 % Grenache from three separate bush vine blocks from the austere rocks of Seaview, and the sands of both Blewitt Springs and Mclaren Flat. All were dry grown and bush vine planted with ages up to 80 years, and provide a deeply fruited aromatic core, balanced by nearly equal proportions of whole bunch Shiraz and Mataro from Blewitt Springs, and Carignan planted in our home vineyard The Chase. Ideally this wine is less about brightness of fruit, and early drinkability, and more about the structured persistence and ageabilty we so rarely see from McLaren Vale Grenache blends these days. Matured in old puncheons on fine lees, and then a year in bottle before release. Bottled un-fined but filtered.

‘An elegant, but deeply fruited wine, showing aromatic floral red fruit lift, and spice from old vine Grenache, built upon intense blue fruits and violets of dry grown Mataro and Shiraz. Layered and long this wine exhibits a tightly wound core of dense red berried crunchy fruit, framed by persistent sandy tannins, and bright acidity.’ Bernice and Julian.

2021 Kintsugi - due 2025
‘Hailing from the magnificent 2021 season, the 2021 Kintsugi Grenache is lead by Grenache (55%), Carignan (35%) and Mataro (10%). Aromatically, the wine leads with dried herbs and wild game, arnica root and even mustard seed. This is exotically spiced, savory and has a real "of the earth" feeling, without being rustic or unpolished. The tannins are more sinewy and lean than in other cuvées tasted here today, however this definition in the mouth is attractive and certainly more "classically styled," if that is indeed a valid descriptor. This is bloody, bony and autumnal in its way. It has notes of cracked leaf litter, iodine, ferrous and ironstone. The fruit is Smart Grenache and estate-owned Carignan, both co-fermented, and the Mataro is from Springs Hill. 14.8% alcohol, sealed under screw cap’ 96+ points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, September 2024