The first major diversion from the Italian versions is the variety. The Wahgunyah RIP is made with Shiraz, effectively our national grape. In Valpolicella Corvina, Rondinella and Mollinara are used.

 

The RIP stands for Ripasso, an old winemaking trick from the North-Italian region of Valpolicella.  In Italy some of the grapes are dried on trays in airy lofts for several months in order to concentrate their sugars and flavours.  In the meantime other red table wines are made and fermented in the usual manner for the production of Valpolicella.  After the drying process is complete the shriveled fruit is crushed and fermentation takes place.  The resulting sweet wine is called Recioto della Valpolicella.  Sometimes the wine ferments to dryness and these are the famous Amarones.  

After this is done some producers take some of the normal Valpolicella red and pour it over the recioto skins (which invariably have some residual sweetness to them).  Another fermentation takes place to use up the remaining sugar and the skins and wine are pressed out one last time.  The wine from this process is called Ripasso, which as you would expect comes from the technique of re-passing wine over the skins.

Apparently the loft drying technique was developed by the Romans because grapes would not reach adequate ripeness on the vine alone. Here in Rutherglen achieving full ripeness is rarely a problem and our decision to use the Ripasso technique is purely stylistic. To make the base wine we pick the Shiraz relatively early to preserve acidity and freshness. We make the wine in our open fermenters and basket press, then it is off to old puncheons for a year. The following vintage is when the Ripasso event happens. Rather than drying the fruit in lofts, we make use of our yearly requirement for port. A few rows of Shiraz are allowed to get very ripe (about 18 Baume) before harvesting. The fruit is crushed and part fermented. When the time is right for the fortification, rather than press the fermentation, we merely drain out the free run and fortify this.  The remaining sweet soggy skins stay in the fermenter and receive the one year old wine.  The yeast get a bit of a shock, but a day or so later they are off and fizzing again! The wine ferments to dryness and is pressed, run to oak and left to mature for another 10 months before bottling.

This is a substantial wine, with plenty of flavour and structure. The best matches are game such as venison and slow-cooked braises.