Momento Mori

Momento Mori - Latin for "remember you must die" - is Dane Johns's project in Victoria, Australia. First vintage around 2013-2014. The name sets the tone: this is wine made with the urgency of impermanence, and the attention that urgency demands.

Johns farms his own small plots (around two hectares) in the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland, and sources fruit from trusted growers in Heathcote, whose ancient Cambrian soils - five hundred million years old, red earth over greenstone and quartz - are among the oldest viticultural soils on the planet. The split between estate-grown and sourced fruit is deliberate: Gippsland's cooler, high-altitude terroir for some varieties, Heathcote's warm Cambrian iron for others.

Biodynamically certified. The grape portfolio leans Mediterranean and Italian - varieties Johns believes belong in these Australian climates better than the traditional Shiraz monoculture: Sangiovese, Fiano, Vermentino, Greco di Tufo, Nebbiolo, Syrah, among others.

In the cellar: wild fermentation, whole-bunch inclusion, amphora and old oak aging, minimal or zero added sulphur. Johns is part of Australia's natural-wine movement but resists the label - the work is about soil and place, not ideology.

The cuvée names are their own genre:

• Give Up the Ghost - Greco di Tufo
• Fistful of Flowers - field blend / co-ferment
• Staring at the Sun - Fiano
• Bag of Bones - Sangiovese
• The Incline - Syrah
• Amphora - amphora-aged red
• Bianco - white blend
• Rosso - red blend

Tiny production, allocated mailing list, cult status in Australian natural-wine circles. Johns is regarded as one of Australia's most thoughtful and uncompromising vignerons.