As Autumn slowly creeps in with bright sunny days and cooler nights, I find myself drawn to wines with a little more texture and body, yet still cool and refreshing. Natural wines are a great option, as they often still come chilled, but have bigger, bolder flavours and tannins that add a new element to a flavour profile you might already be familiar with. They tend to be cloudy, pronounced, high in acidity with flavours similar to kombucha or sour beer, and they're extremely versatile in a wide variety of food pairings. That being said, there are always surprising exceptions to the rules.

Natural and low-intervention wines have garnered a lot of attention in the last few years, not least because they break with conventional winemaking with a “nothing added, nothing taken away” approach. Normally this means wines with exclusively organic or biodynamic fruit, wild ferments, unfiltered, un-fined and little to no sulphites. In a world that is looking to reduce the number of toxins we surround ourselves with, and also put into our bodies, it's become an increasingly appealing option for those who enjoy a little (or a lot) of wine, especially when trying to avoid the morning-after headache.

Whilst some consider natural wine to be an “undefined scam”, when you come across wines that are structured, textural, fun and downright delicious, you have to consider the validity of an industry that is thought to be taking the piss. Due to the volatility and neediness of ferments, prices tend to be a little higher, but each bottle is worth every dollar, often with labels to match.

Dormilona, Skinnie ‘18, <$35

Josephine Perry, the winner of the Young Gun of Wine Award in 2016, is the sensorial talent behind Margaret River's independent producer Dormilona, which she runs with her husband Jimmy and two young children alongside their wine consulting firm Perryscope. Using her acute palate, touch and smell, Josephine crafts wines to reflect each season and vineyard character.

Dormilona, meaning 'lazy bones' in Spanish, was a nickname for Josephine in her time working at vintage in Spain - struggling to stay awake at traditionally late Spanish dinners after catching surf breaks in the early morning - and reflects what she considers to be a “laid-back” approach to making wine.

Whilst Dormilona is known for its delicious skin-contact and amphorae wines, its labels have also received much attention. Sean Whelan's artwork for Dormilona revolves around a pictorial narrative of a lethargic skeleton in various scenic splendour, often dozing in plush watercolour amongst moss-covered stones and flowing water, or as on Skinnie’s label, admiring a sapphire blue ocean bordered by mountains and a creeping blanket of cloud.

However, Josephine's wines are anything but soporific.

Cloudy Sauvignon Blanc enlivened by a complex nose of preserved lemon, dried orange zest, petrichor and herbaceous dill, Skinnie follows through with chewy tannins, pink lady skins on the tip of the tongue and hints at passionfruit mid-palate, with herby pickle acidity that keeps it mouth-wateringly fresh. Dry with a medium finish this wine is more intense than it looks and is a slow, delicious sip to ponder over with good conversation.

UNKEL, Rising Sun ‘18, <$35

Each of Laura O'Connor's artworks for UNKEL varies considerably in style and tone. Having been given the freedom to experiment, each label has become a visual interpretation of the flavour and texture of the wine around the name of each vintage. Rising Sun's label has a manga/anime influence, with a colour scheme that wouldn't be out of place in NeoYokio. Pastels of violet, cream and salmon-pink fill and surround the boundaries of an other-worldly house high up in the clouds, which boasts a zen garden, hot tub, futon and bonsai. Koi can be spotted swimming lazy circles in the rooftop pool which adds to the dream-like quality of the image, and feels much like the quiet early hours of the morning before the rest of the world wakes. Captured in the conventional rectangular label, I like to think it's a clever nod to manga panels, or the consumption of anime through rectangular media, though it's probably incidental.

With a third of the grapes sent to old oak and another third left on skins for eight hours, this wine has a lot going on, but with careful balance. Clean with micro sediment, winemaker Rob Burley's Pinot Gris is all strawberries and white peach, warm summer lemons, and is a little bit leesy on the nose. An ever so slight creaminess balances the mild acidity, and red apple and grapefruit join the party. Dry with medium acid and low tannin it's a fun, skilful wine that will transition you from those hot summer days to those perfect autumn afternoons.

Brave New Wine, Gewurlitzer ‘18, <$35

Yoko and Andries are the wife and husband duo that bring you the wild and wonderful Brave New Wine. Unconventional flavour matches and spin-offs of the ones you know and love, each vintage arrives with a brand-spanking-new label to rock on shelves around Australia.

As a labour of love Yoko designs a brand new label each vintage, hand drawn and painted in vibrant colours, intricate patterns and psychedelic composition. It's eighties shapes, Australian botanicals, diamonds and disco balls, each gilt with 'Brave New Wine' in striking gold text. Gewurlitzer ‘18 has a repeating image of disco balls, with the colour gradient between mirror panels so accurate they actually look shiny. With a navy blue background, it's a glamorous label, and a visually satisfying one at that.

Chardonnay must is fermented on Gewurztraminer skins, then basket pressed to old oak resulting in a floral nose of rose and orange blossom, mango flesh, lemon and ginger. Nebulous, natty and bold on the palate with bright fruit and chewy tannins, its flavour and texture abounds. A little oxidised and all the more interesting for it, this wine is layered and intriguing, and a bloody delight to get your mouth around.

Si Vitners, Baba Yaga ’18, >$35

Si Vitners’ Sarah Morris (S) and Iwo Jakimowicz (i) are using smell and palate to create complex, delicious artistic expressions of grapes from their organic vineyard in Margaret River.

Fusebox's wine labels for Si Vitners are refined, intricate and hint at something of the old world with a label the colour of aged paper. Old world meets new with sketched images of stone facades behind a bold contemporary 'Si.' It's a subtle hint at their time working in Spain and also to the Mediterranean climate that is reflected in the Margaret River region. Mindfully tasteful, 'Si.' takes precedence in the foreground, shiny and black: contemporary branding in its simplest form, but also inviting you to pick it off the shelf with a resounding "yes!". Subtle gilding around the name plaque is only visible when catching the light due to tonal similarities.

Named after the witch of Slavic folklore, who traverses the forest in a mortar and pestle, Baba Yaga is an unconventional take on rose/amber wine, made with a surprising blend of skin-contact Sauvignon Blanc and a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon. Zippy pink grapefruit with a hint of herbaceous green, underripe red cherry, blood orange zest and passionfruit acid, this wine is a wonderful meeting of Sauv meets Sauv. Red rose accompanied by the barest hint of spice, this wine will delight and surprise, testing flavour boundaries: an incredible example of how wonderful low intervention wine can be.

Words by Antonina Heymanson

WINES THAT TASTE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK: AUTUMN EDITION