Man, we could go on and on (and on…) about just how much we love Peter Dredge and his Dr Edge and Dr Ongo wines. So much, in fact, that we’ve even framed and hung a photo of him up in the back of our Newtown HQ that deserves a spot in the National Portrait Gallery. (Seek it out for a giggle next time you’re in if you haven’t already.)
Much like the man behind them, these are wines possessed of rare charisma and idiosyncrasy that are never fall short on technical detail. This is a guy who’s done the hard yards across more than two decades, spending years under Brian Croser at Petaluma in his native South Australia before mining some of the world’s steepest vineyards in the Mosel and working his way back to Tasmania to make fizz and pinot noir with some of the all-time greats. He knows what’s up – and you can taste it.
So…this year’s releases. They’re good. Real good. Some golden oldies, some future classics. You’re probably gonna want to start with the 2024 Dr Ongo Pet Nat – a clean, classy, gentle-as-ever extraction of pinot noir topped up with a little riesling juice that’ll live rent-free in your head long after the bottle is done. There’s riesling too, of course, but not as you know it – the 2023 Dr Edge Unfiltered Riesling has spent some time in amphora, seen a bit of whole-cluster ferment and spent nine months on lees. In short, texture for days and a radiant farmhouse-cider sensibility.
The 2024 Dr Edge Rosa Rosa Rosa is very much a first, a pinot noir/pinot meunier rosé that’s barely pressed and pulses with maraschino, pomegranate and rosehip tea flavour, underpinned by minty freshness and almond-like nuttiness. More, please. In another first, he’s whipped up a ‘vin de soif’-style pinot noir, the 2024 Dr Edge Rain, which clocks in at just 11.5% and gives you all the slinky red-fruited goodness you could want without the prestige price tag.
If the pointier end is what you’re after, you’ve got options there too. The 2023 Dr Edge Tasmania Chardonnay is pure gold, a taut and concentrated expression that lets you know who’s boss with layers of white peach, grapefruit and lemon brine, and an almost never-ending, mineral-laced finish. Wowza.
To cap it off, as always, there’s pinot noir – and not just one, but two. The 2023 Dr Edge Green Label Pinot Noir has been matured in barrique and brims with musky, floral perfume and cherry brightness, while the 2023 Dr Edge Red Label Pinot Noir is raised entirely in concrete, resulting in a slinkier, spicier take on the style. Both total firecrackers. But then, you probably already knew that...