This wine is special for our winemaker Dan Crane. A trip around France in 1992 included a visit to Mas de Daumas Gassac and an afternoon spent with Monsieur Guibert was one of the moments that convinced Dan to make a life for himself in wine.Perhaps this is one winemaker's way of saying "thanks". It is special too, because, Dan's philosophy is that there is no higher calling in winemaking than to make a wine that truly reflects its origins.

The opportunity to make the wine came in 2008 when drought resulted in tiny yields for many of our blocks, in some cases yields were too small to vinify separately. What fruit there was, had incredible intensity and was far too good to leave on the vine. Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention, and so we invested in some fine French oak and set to work making our own multi-varietal blend.

The inspiration for the wine came from the work of famed Southern French winemaker Aimé Guibert of Mas de Daumas Gassac. His white wine, a blend of Chenin, Chardonnay and several obscure local varieties is a regional gem and a modern classic. Central to the philosophy of this wine is that a combination of varieties effectively mutes any excessively individual varietal character. The result is a wine that speaks more about where it is from than about the variety from which it is made.

Alias I is a white blend, predominantly Semillon, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay, but with additional input from varieties as diverse as Muscadelle, Chardonnay, Viognier and Riesling.

Key components are:

• Semillon: picked early, bunch pressed to an indigenous fermentation in old oak.
• Chenin, Viognier, Riesling and Chardonnay:Riper flavours when picked, crushed, pressed and co-fermented, initially in tank and then finishing off in barrel, including the new oak component.
• Muscadelle: Crushed and fermented on skins for four days then pressed to old oak for the fermentation to finish.
• 25% of the barrels were new and were made from 3yr seasoned oak from the Vosges forest of France coopered by Damy in Burgundy.

A fabulous food wine, Alias I is "a great match with simple fish and poultry dishes or is perfectly hedonistic with steamed or grilled lobster. Japanese food lovers can enjoy with seafood tapenyaki or the freshest sushi".