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.

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 maritime-influenced terroir for some varieties, Heathcote's warm Cambrian iron for others.

Farmed biodynamically. The grape portfolio leans Mediterranean and Italian - varieties Johns believes belong in these Australian climates better than the Shiraz default: Sangiovese, Fiano, Vermentino, Greco, 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. Recurring releases include:

• Give Up the Ghost - Fiano
• Fistful of Flowers - field blend / co-ferment
• Staring at the Sun - skin-contact white
• Bag of Bones - Sangiovese
• The Incline - Syrah

Alongside a rotating cast of amphora bottlings and Bianco / Rosso blends that change vintage to vintage. Production is small and allocations tight - the mailing list closes most vintages before bottles reach wider retail.