Small Business

Minimum Wines, Maximum Delight From Matt + Lentil Purbrick

The last time we chatted with Matt and Lentil Purbrick, we featured a selection of recipes from their beautiful cookbook, The Village. Now a year later, the pair are living between Italy and Australia, eagerly ready to share their new minimum intervention wine label – aptly named, Minimum!

From book publishing the winemaking, the duo is committed to making a big splash, with minimum impact on the environment.

Written
by
Lucy Feagins

Photo – Hilary Walker.

Photo – Hilary Walker.

Photo – Morgan Schoermer.

Photo – Morgan Schoermer.

Photo – Hilary Walker.

Photo – Shantanu Starick.

Photo – Shantanu Starick.

Writer
Lucy Feagins
3rd of September 2019

Matt Purbrick grew up on a vineyard, and describes a childhood of ‘jumping on and off forklifts, knocking bungs into barrels, and checking ferments with Dad as a young kid.’ After several years of making natural wines with his partner Lentil to share with friends, the duo approached Matt’s dad, Alistair Purbrick, with an idea of taking their lively homebrews to the next level. Matt explains ‘his knowledge of everything wine-related and incredible winemaking skill brings a lot to the table.’

Together, the group have produced a trio of natural wines under their new label Minimum: a Sangiovese Syrah, Chardonnay and Rosato. For Lentil and Matt, this endeavour is a continuation of the work they started as ‘Grown and Gathered.’ Matt highlights ‘its the biggest sustainability project we’ve ever taken on, and everything seems to have led to this point.’

For Matt and Lentil, the launch of Minimum also offers and opportunity to share their approaches to minimal living. Matt tells ‘it’s been such an incredible opportunity to show that conversion, for any size farm, is achievable.’ But minimal living doesn’t require land or a vineyard. For Lentil, a minimal intervention living is ‘all about having less, doing less, keeping life simple.’

Minimum’s wine bottles are clad in labels designed by Matt, which simply communicate the landscape where the wine was made, as well as the Italian hills in the region where they now spend much of the year.

To learn more about Minimum wines (or place an order!), hop over to their website, where the team delve deep on the process or organic certification, offer an ode to the humble cork, and share their manifesto of making ‘excellent organic wines made by doing only what is necessary.’ Chin chin!

To celebrate the launch of Minimum, Mercedes me is hosting one-night-only Friday night drinks. Sample the 2018 Sangiovese Syrah, 2018 Chardonnay, and the 2019 Sangiovese Rosato whilst enjoying some of Melbourne’s best musical talent presented by Mercedes Me.

Matt and his Dad, Alister, will be on-hand to discuss the Minimum story, all things organic farming and winemaking, and how they make wines with the minimum ecological footprint.

Find more details here!

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