The Los Hermanos (The Siblings) wine range focuses on the various styles of the Iberian Peninsula. Made from petit manseng grapes grown in the King Valley in Victoria, this wine doffs its cap to the Txakoli wines of the Spanish Basque region, which are often enjoyed with snacks known as “pintxos”. This is a very different style for Australian drinkers, a spritzy but savoury, dryish white that is a beautiful food match with anything from gazpacho to anchovies. It’s also a great lunchtime wine with just 11.5% alcohol. Try it with tapas.

Winsor Dobbin, The Sunday Examiner Magazine, February 5th 2012.

It was 2000 and the night was hot and gritty in the town of San Sebastien, the coastal town in the Basque region known for its food, wine and beaches. The tapas or pintxos bars, as they are known to locals, were heaving. Rollo Crittenden, second-generation wine maker from the Mornington Peninsula, at the beginning of what would become his ongoing ‘viaje espanol del vino’ or Spanish wine journey, took a seat at one of the wooden stools. The long bar was lined with tasty clusters of morsel size tapas– squid and shrimp, ham and potatoes, anchovies and tomatoes—which customers ate with as much gusto as they spoke. Behind the bar, the barman grabbed a bottle of local wine in one hand, a short stout glass in the other which he held out at waist height, and reached the wine bottle high above his head, turned it up side down and poured a liquid arc of the wine into the glass, the force splashing wine onto the floor.

“At first I had no idea what it was,” says Rollo of his first encounter with the wine. “There was this fantastic theatre with the arm held high and this amazing ability to pour the wine out at a right angle and drop straight into the glass. It just looked so enticing. But it was only being pouted for the locals. I had to ask specifically for some of this exciting wine.”

The wine was the local Basque white wine Txakoli (pronounced shark-o-li), a slightly spritzed, highly acidic, lower in alcohol wine. The wine is poured from a height to aerate the wine and encourage the slight spritz, which is a feature of the local drink.

“The most exciting thing was how Txakoli matched with food. I was blown away by how it brought the palate back to life after each piece of tapas, preparing the palate for the next piece. It was an incredibly enticing wine and food experience,” says Rollo.

Though Rollo’s first experience with Txakoli was a lasting one, some years would pass before he made his own. It was not until Garry Crittenden, Rollo’s father and founder of Crittenden Estate, went to Spain and came back talking about this fantastic Basque wine that they got into action. “Having established the Los Hermanos range with my sister Zoe, it seemed like a perfect wine to introduce to the range. So we started researching where to source the grapes in Australia and went from there.”

Translating as the siblings in Spanish, Los Hermanos is a range of wines that explores and celebrates Spanish wine varieties and styles. The 2011 Saludo at Txakoli (salute to Txakoli) is the fourth wine in the range—all are wildly food friendly and approachable.

Says Rollo of the new addition; “The Txakoli is a nice counterpoint to the rest of the range. It has a different profile—fantastic acid and a nice spritz, and now means we have wines from four Spanish regions: Rioja, Catalonia, Galicia and now with the Txakoli, the Basque region.” 

Traditionally, three varieties are used to make Txakoli—Hondarrabi Zuri, Hondarrabi Beltza and Petit Manseng. However, the first two varieties are not available in Australia as yet so the 2011 Los Hermanos Txakoli is made from the third, Petit Manseng, from the King Valley.

The result is a fitting salute to the Basque wine—a light and lemony coloured wine, with a gentle waft of fruit and lovely floral notes as well as lashings of enlivening acid. However, as Rollo points out, the taste is not what the wine is about.

“It’s a lovely wine but it’s not so much about the flavours but about the experience. It’s designed to make food taste better. Food is not an accompaniment to this wine; it is an accompaniment to food.”

And yes, for maximum drinking pleasure be sure to pour from the wine from a height.

Andrea Frost, The Melbourne Review, February 4th 2012.

…Txakoli is a Basque region white that is neutral tasting, acidic, low in alcohol, and slightly spritzy on the tongue. On a hot day with a big plateful of fresh anchovies sprinkled with oil, parsley and garlic – as I first tasted in 1996 – it is a sublime refreshment. So, too, is Crittenden Estate’s homage to the style: Los Hermanos Saludo al Txakoli 2011. Sardines and other small fish suit it fine…. Tim White, The Australian Financial Review, January 28-29 2012.

Based on the txakoli variety of northern Spain. Spice, almonds, florals and lemony notes with a light spritz, moderate alcohol and vibrant acidity. Ken Gargett, The Courier Mail, Saturday 28th Jan 2012.

Mornington’s Crittenden clan was brave in bestowing this Basque name on this unique tipple. Here petit manseng yields an intriguingly tart, food-friendly white that is unusual but extremely drinkable.
Jeff Collerson, The Daily Telegraph, Sat 21st Jan 2012.

Rollo and Zoe Crittenden from Crittenden Estate are having a lot of fun with their range of Los Hermanos “The Siblings” wines that focus on the various styles of the Iberian Peninsula. Made from petit manseng grapes grown in the high country of the King Valley in Victoria, this wine doffs its cap to the Txakoli wines of the Spanish Basque region, which are often enjoyed late at night with snacks known as “pintxos”. This is a very different style for Australian drinkers, a spritzy but savoury dryish white that is a beautiful food match with anything from gazpacho to anchovies. It’s also a great lunchtime wine with just 11.5% alcohol. Try it with tapas. $25.

Winsor Dobbin, www.wdwineoftheweek.blogspot.com , Jan 2011

DRINK TODAY: This is a very inventive wine—Los Hermanos Saludo al Txakoli (Basque language for salute to Petit Manseng) 2011, 11.5%; Crittenden Estate (the siblings—hermanos—Rollo and Zoe’s efforts); from King Valley, Victoria; super pale, youthful, the entry is sensual, fizzy-yes, engaging –yes; sweet—not really but a brief alluring sweet flavour; then lightness comes over the wine, taste is easy, the end bit is green apple, chewy-dry, refreshing acidity. These two take the straddle between Aussie descriptiveness yet a real passion to communicate that this is a light white to be quaffed around tapas time (late afternoon), time to snack or graze; be informal; think Spanish/ north western Spain around San Sebastian; drink as you munch, the wine will not interfere and the result will be pleasant; concentrate on the conversation. Petite Manseng is grown around south western France, but as the Basque influence spills between borders, this grape is grown in Spain likewise, but as cultures go, called something else! Peter Scudmore-Smith, (Uncorked and Cultivated), Facebook, Jan 2012.

“And now for something completely different: Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos 2011 Saludo al Txakoli. Spritzy and savoury. King Valley.” Winsor Dobbin, (@winsordobbin), 13/1/2012.