2025 Brash Higgins 'ZBO' Zibibbo Amphora

About The Wine

‘A tad diaphanous in appearance, as expected for the long elevage on skins. The wine is dry yet exudes tantalising herbal, spice and stone fruit aromas. Complex nose of apricot, graphite/pencil shavings, cut ginger, lemon myrtle, elderflower, white pepper, IPA hoppy notes, and wild honey leap from the glass. On the palate, the wine has a soft entry but with good grip, an earthy sweet chalk/clay element with notes of pink grapefruit, white pepper, lemon oil, mandarin tea and cinnamon apples.’

– Brad Hickey, Vinitor, Sept 9, 2025.

Zibibbo is an ancient, aromatic white grape from the Muscat family grown in the warmth of the Mediterranean and South Australia. From fruit grown at Bassham Vineyard in the Riverland, chosen for its potential to develop length and complexity from longer skin contact. the wine is reminiscent of something from Alice in Wonderland, where things aren’t always as they seem.

Quasi golf ball sized, bronze fruit parlayed into waiting terracotta amphorae. A wild ferment kicks off with the caps being hand plunged twice daily until the ferment finishes and the skins sink into the wine. The skins, seeds and juice remain covered in situ for six months. A FLOR, or layer of yeast, volunteers itself and covers and helps protect the wine. The ‘free run’ was siphoned off in spring and combined with the pressings. The wine settles before being racked and sent to bottle unfiltered and unfined.

About Brash Higgins

Brad Hickey, the American winemaker behind the Brash Higgins label, is a Chicago native whose extensive journey through the food and wine industry took him from New York to Paris before landing in Australia's McLaren Vale in 2007. Originally one of America's top sommeliers, crafting some of New York's finest wine lists.

Hickey arrived in Australia to work a vintage with renowned winemaker Chris Ringland, where locals nicknamed him "Brash Higgins." He fell in love with the country's wine culture immediately and never left, establishing his wine label in 2008 alongside his partner Nicole Thorpe, a local vigneron whose family has deep roots in the region. Together, they farm organically on the distinctive red clay and limestone soils of McLaren Vale, producing minimal intervention wines that capture the essence of the terroir while reflecting Hickey's restless creative spirit and extensive culinary background.

Snapshot

Region: McLaren Vale, SA

Country: Australia

Alcohol: 12.4%

Vintage: 2025

Size: 750ml

Closure: Screwcap

Varieties: Zibibbo

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