Nikau Wines (Australia)

Nikau is the other half of Momento Mori. Momento Mori is the fruit Dane Johns buys in from growers across Victoria; Nikau is what comes off his own land in Gippsland. Two plots of 27 year old vines, worked by hand, no sulphur added at any stage, and fewer than 500 bottles from each.

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The farm, and how Nikau differs from Momento Mori

Dane Johns is better known for Momento Mori, and the split between the two labels is simple once you know it. Momento Mori is made from fruit he buys from growers he picks across Victoria. Nikau is what he grows himself.

He and his wife Hannah own around 95 acres in the Baw Baw country of Gippsland, Victoria, on a run of ranges known to the Indigenous people of the area as Tolone. The land is steep. Under a layer of fertile loam sits compacted sandstone formed from ancient sea beds. Rainfall is high and the nights are cool.

Only a small part of it is vines. The rest is a working farm: large vegetable gardens, mixed grazing animals, ducks, chickens, a 25 year old olive grove, one hillside replanted to native Mountain Ash and another set aside to go back to local species.

No herbicide and no bought-in fertiliser has ever been used on the property. The vineyard work is done by hand, sheep graze the rows in winter, and the ducks deal with the snails and slugs.

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Bottle of Nikau from Gippsland with a glass of pale red wine and volcanic stones

Two plots, 27 year old vines, under 500 bottles each

There are two small plots of vines on the farm, both around 27 years old, and the wines are named after them.

The Home Block is the Pinot Noir, sitting at about 350 metres. It is planted on its own roots with around seven different clones interplanted through it rather than laid out in neat single-clone rows, which is unusual and which gives the picking a range of ripeness to work with.

The Tolone block is on the highest hill on the property, facing mostly west, with a thinner layer of loam that drains faster than the Pinot ground. It is planted mainly to Riesling with a few Chardonnay vines among it. Ours is the Tolone 2022.

The quantities are the thing to understand here. Yields have run at under 250 grams of fruit per vine, which produces fewer than 500 bottles from each site. These are not wines that are made and then allocated; there is barely anything to allocate.

Bottle of Nikau from Gippsland with a glass of white wine against a blue wall

Stainless steel, no pumps, and no sulphur

The cellar approach is as bare as it gets. No sulphur goes in, and neither does anything else. There is no oak anywhere; everything is handled in stainless steel. No pumps are used and no pump-overs are done.

Ferments are long, cool and run on the fruit's own yeasts. The wines are not racked after pressing, and they are bottled by hand straight off the tank.

The Pinot is hand destemmed into steel and ferments slowly at low temperature for around six weeks, then goes to tank for ten months and is bottled by gravity off its full lees. The white is given a short time on skins, pressed as whole bunches into a small steel tank, left for a long cool ferment and then eight months on full solids before being bottled by hand.

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NATURAL WINES FROM GIPPSLAND

Gippsland is a large, cool-climate region in eastern Victoria, running from the mountains east of Melbourne down to the coast. Cool nights and long ripening seasons suit Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and small farms work steep, hilly blocks largely by hand. Natural wine producers include Momento Mori and Nikau Farm.

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FAQ about Nikau

What is the difference between Nikau and Momento Mori?

Same winemaker, different fruit. Momento Mori is made from grapes Dane Johns buys in from growers across Victoria. Nikau is made only from the two small plots of vines on his own farm in Gippsland.

Where is Nikau Farm?

In the Baw Baw country of Gippsland, Victoria, on a run of ranges known to the Indigenous people of the area as Tolone. The property is around 95 acres, of which only two small plots are planted to vines.

Does Nikau contain added sulphites?

No. No sulphur goes in, and neither does anything else. Small amounts of sulphites occur naturally during fermentation in any wine, but none is added here.

How much Nikau is made?

Very little. Yields have run under 250 grams of fruit per vine, which works out at fewer than 500 bottles from each of the two sites. Only a fraction of that leaves Australia.

What is planted in the Tolone block?

Mainly Riesling, with a few Chardonnay vines among it. It is the highest hill on the property, facing mostly west, on a thinner layer of loam that drains faster than the Pinot ground below it.

How old are the vines?

Both plots are around 27 years old. The Pinot Noir is on its own roots with roughly seven clones interplanted through the block rather than planted in single-clone rows.

What does Nikau taste like?

Light, cool and unforced. The farm is high and steep with cool nights and high rainfall, the wines are made in steel with no oak and no sulphur, and they are bottled young and low in alcohol. Expect wines of detail rather than weight.