How good is it when a teeny-tiny producer springs up out of nowhere and hits the ground running? So good. And so it is with Dérive Wine, a new project by fresh-faced viticulturalist Ollie Bevan based out of Blewitt Springs in South Australia. So new in fact, that there’s no website and barely an Instagram account to speak of.
Along with his cousins, Ollie owns and manages Parea Estate, another nearby vineyard and winery, but Dérive is a joint venture with his partner, Joss, utilising organic fruit from neighbouring growers. They’re good mates with a bumper crop of young guns, too, such as Cooper Davis-Draper (Oria Riff), Callum Powell (Agricola Vintners) and Jemma and Steve Fielke (J&S Fielke), which should give you a pretty strong idea of where the wines sit.
The first release consists of just two wines, and the 2024 Tintookie Chenin Blanc has been a staff favourite off the blocks, a straight shooter with texture to burn and drinkability factor to the max, built on flavours of lemon verbena, tonic water, gingery spice and sea spray to close. Buy some before we drink it all. Seriously. Please. The 2024 Uli Grenache, meanwhile, is a slightly edgier interpretation, silty and medium-bodied with the cooling freshness of tart red berries, alpine herbs and white pepper. One to watch for sure, so add them to your radar (and your cart) pronto.