Delinquente Roko il Vagabondo Montepulciano

About Delinquente Roko il Vagabondo Montepulciano

Delinquente Roko il Vagabondo Montepulciano is an uncomplicated red wine that provides flavor and energy. The thick skins provide a lovely, dark purple color, and while the nose gives a feeling of power and intensity, with a very meaty, charcuterie, olive tapenade feel, the palate opens with a lovely, puckering fruit character, like a basket of freshly picked, maybe slightly underripe, but delicious mixed berries. The finish brings that tannin (although the cooler year means the tannin is less prominent) and those grippy, savory elements back into play, while the acid keeps the freshness and length going. The Montepulciano was harvested from two different patches on the Bassham Family Organic vineyard, on separate days about a week apart. Each pick was fermented separately and blended together just prior to bottling. The earlier pick carried a lovely tart acidity and green energy, usually associated with whole bunch fermented wines, while the later pick gives palate weight and the deeper fruit character for drinkability – the final blend bringing both parcels together in a really awesome way.

About Delinquente Wine Co.

Con Greg founded Delinquente in 2013 after trying his hand at other industries before returning home to the Riverland. He grew up surrounded by wine; his Dad was the manager of production for one of the region’s bulk wineries. Delinquente translates to ‘delinquent’ in Italian, which speaks to Con and his team’s desire to always buck the trend, break rules, and do things their own way. His aim is to showcase how good wines from Riverland can be if grape varieties and clones are used that are suited to the climate and soil type and if you treat the vines with respect and care.

Riverland has been established for being a region that produces a majority of bulk wine using highly mechanized viticulture traditions, and the region produces a third of the nation’s total crush. It stretches between the bends of the mighty Murray River and the vast edge of the Great Australian Outback. Riverland’s vineyards are highly influenced by two types of soils: the river valley soil made up of sandy and clay particles, and Mallee soil, comprising lime and clay layers. The region has a warm, temperate climate but doesn’t get much rain. With its relatively low altitude, it can be insanely hot during summer. The Murray River provides necessary relief and access to water for farming.

Con Greg sources organically grown fruit from two small family growers. Breaking from traditional mechanical farming in the region, all the fruit is hand-picked and hand-sorted. Even with the Murray River providing some water relief, the Riverland can be very hot and very dry, particularly through the vines’ growing season. That is the reason Con Greg chose to work primarily with Southern Italian grape varieties, which are suited to the climate, need less water are naturally drought resistant, are late ripening, and retain natural acidity. In this way, they are more environmentally sustainable, and allow the production of wines with lower alcohol levels but heaps of freshness and flavor.

All Delinquente wines are made with extremely minimal intervention in the winery. The core group of still wines – Screaming Betty Vermentino, Pretty Boy Rosato, Roko il Vagabondo Montepulciano – are wild fermented in stainless steel. The Hell Series of wines show additional nuances and texture through the use of seasoned oak. The yeasts are always native, no wines are fined or filtered, and the only sulfur addition is at bottling and employed in minimal amounts.

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