Dazma Wine Company 2020 Gewürz / Chardonnay / Vermentino

Gewürztraminer for aroma, Chardonnay for body, Vermentino for lift. Skin contact pulls it all together — lychee, citrus, stone fruit, savoury edge. Distinctive and food-driven.

Charles Osborne started Dazma in 2020, squeezed between the Black Summer fires and the pandemic. His first vintage was at Konpira Maru in 2015 alongside Sam Cook and Alastair Reed, and he still makes his own wines there. Before that he worked at Yealands in Marlborough, then ran the cellar floor at a big commercial winery.

He draws fruit from high and low sites across the King Valley and further into northern Victoria. The aim is what he calls lo-fi wine, meant for a mug around the campfire as much as a glass over dinner. Nothing is fined or filtered.

Serve it cool, not cold, so the skin contact texture and the Gewürz perfume both show. It suits spiced food, roast pork or a plate of hard cheese.