NINO

NINO is the name of a special project wine from the team at Mount Majura Vineyard.

It’s a ‘pet nat’ or naturally sparkling wine that somehow came into being in the enthusiasm of vintage 2016. As a challenge the winemaking team set themselves, it was made with absolutely no additives (NINO stands for ‘nothing in, nothing out) and this is a style where that works really well. As it hasn’t been disgorged, there is a light sediment in the bottle, and this yeast takes the place of preservative.

Faced with a wine that turned out really well but didn’t fit into the Mount Majura Vineyard portfolio, it became an opportunity for good. Winemaker Frank van de Loo explains:

“How lucky are we? Great job growing grapes and making wine. But at the end of the day, does it save lives? Does it leave the world a better place? We wanted to do something that would really make a difference, something local that we could get involved with. And our biggest impact will come from leveraging what we already do, making wine.

So 100% of the proceeds from this wine go to YouthCARE Canberra. YouthCARE Canberra actively provides outreach services to young people at risk, in an effort to help those facing homelessness and violence.”