The Story Wines Skin Contact MRV 2021

The first task is deciding to open this immaculately looking bottle but once you do decide to crack it open, you’ll be rewarded with what is inside. This is a Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier blend that has had 12 days of skin contact while fermenting. The wine has plenty of textural stone fruit notes of peach and apricot with a waxy structure and plenty of honey notes.

'The Story' is all about Rory. He will tell you otherwise, but we often think the maker is as important as the wines they produce. Quality is the only intention that Rory Lane ever has when creating wine for 'The Story'. Never one to credit his own genius for the wines, instead, he acknowledges the brilliance of the vineyards and his growers, often super marginal and cool places - much riskier to work with on a consistent basis. Take the crazy pandemic and bushfire year of 2020 for example. Rory basically didn't make any wine that year, for a variety of reasons, and not only because of the unforgettable fires, but ultimately felt the vintage wasn't good enough for 'The Story'. To virtually 'declassify' or reject an entire year (okay, the 2 tonnes of his best Shiraz aside) shows you a dedication to uncompromised quality for his brand. He is all about respecting place and the wines need to reflect that. Seriously intelligent.

With a winery in the 'burbs of Melbourne, Rory Lane creates his wines from the vineyard first. Having access to incredible fruit from growers whose relationships he established and has nurtured since 'The Story's' infancy in the mid 00's. These growers know and trust Rory's winemaking prowess, and have even been guided by his intuitive foresight as to what grapes to grow where.