2025 Somos Biodynamic Vermentino

Vermentino rarely gets this kind of serious love, but Mauricio Ruiz Cantu and the Somos team have elevated it far beyond your average salty sipper. This is hands down one of the most compelling Australian Vermentinos on the market.

Sourced from Paxton's biodynamic Hiltop vineyard in McLaren Vale, the fruit is treated with the kind of care usually reserved for premium Chardonnay. It was picked early to retain a razor-sharp line of acid, destemmed, and left on skins for 24 hours to extract maximum flavour. From there, it was gently pressed into a mix of old French barriques and puncheons for a wild fermentation. To build real complexity and mouthfeel, the wine spent nine months on lees with occasional bâtonnage, followed by three months in bottle before release.

This '25 release a brilliantly textured "beach wine with brains". It keeps those classic Sardinian sea-spray aromatics but layers in lemon curd, subtle spice, and a gently chalky grip that makes it a delicious food wine.

94 points
"This wine has seen an evolution of late, with this the biggest deviation from the prior opulently textural, skinsy, creamy and barrel-influenced iterations... There’s a little chewy detail, and a saline slip to the zippy finish. And it’s a most pleasing thing."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)