Valentine’s Day may come and go, but cute wine stories are forever…so here’s one. Darcy and Loc are two trans, non-binary folk who met at university five years ago and knew little about wine before starting as farmhands at Jauma Farm – the legendary patch of grass in the Adelaide Hills run by the pioneering James and Sophie Erskine.
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After lots of long days in the vineyard and ongoing chats about environmental stewardship, land rights, queerness, gender and winemaking, the idea for a collab was floated and so TroubleChild Wines was born. It’s a politically-minded, community-focused project all about challenging norms, resisting labels and celebrating visibility in what’s often perceived as a male-dominated, heteronormative industry.
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Darcy and Loc’s first release consists of two wines from the 2023 vintage – the Smells Live Love pet nat and the Better Together grenache. The first is a 50/50 blend of grenache and chenin blanc, which the duo describes as “supple and slurpalicious”. The second is a straight-up grenache, sloshy and juicy and destined for a stint in the fridge before opening. Much like their makers, they’re honest and raw wines: light-footed, fresh-feeling and free of sulphur…perfect, in other words, for seeing out the end of summer. Check ’em out.