2021 Vintage — Frankland River, Great Southern, Western Australia
The Great Southern experienced a long, cool 2021 growing season with adequate winter rainfall and a dry, even ripening period extending well into autumn. The conditions favoured aromatic white varieties, allowing gradual flavour development while retaining the natural acidity that defines this remote, continental-influenced region.
Laissez Faire (‘let it be’) is Larry Cherubino’s expression of minimal-intervention winemaking at its most unconstrained. The Field Blend is harvested from a single co-planted block in Frankland River, where Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Gris grow intermingled and are picked together in a single pass. The grapes are whole-bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeasts in old French oak, with no additions beyond a small sulphur dose at bottling. The result captures the character of the site and season rather than the hand of the winemaker.

