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Top-shelf new winery in the works at CRFT Wines

By Glam Adelaide

“The winery will enable us to do things a lot more efficiently and easily and I can see that we are going to have a definite increase in quality.”

adelaide hills winemakers crft specialise in organic, single-vineyard wines

By New Zealand Herald

High up in the pristine Piccadilly Valley, the couple behind CRFT Wines are living their long-held dream of creating wines that are a true reflection of their place.

Top Wineries of Australia 2023

By Real Review

Taste the top wineries of Australia in 2023, as complied by Real Review.

CRFT Wines New-look tasting room will have you feeling right at home

By Glam Adelaide

Taking on any sort of renovation is no mean feat but shutting the doors to your business and completing the task at hand all within three weeks is darn near impossible – but that’s exactly what Candice Helbig and Frewin Ries did.

Sustainable WINEMAKERS IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS

By Visit Adelaide Hills

CRFT’s philosophy is simple: preserve what the vines produce, create balance and harmony, and leave a minimal winemaking footprint. Its vineyard, winery and Arranmore label wines are all NASAA-certified organic, producing minimal intervention ‘wild-ferment’ wines that champion the single vineyards.

WELLNESS IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS

By Visit Adelaide Hills

“We don’t use systemic or synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers anywhere on our property. We use horse manure to fertilise. We let grass grow between the vines. And everything that comes out of the winemaking process – stems, skins, water – it all goes back into the soil.”

SA CELLAR DOORS TO EXPLORE THIS SUMMER

By Drink Easy

“Here, grape growing conditions are likened to those of the Champagne wine region in France and are amongst the coldest, wettest and most elevated in Australia. The result is relatively low cropping but quality yields which are used to create 13-single vineyard wines.”

Gourmet Traveller Wine’s Top 50 Wine Experiences for 2022

By Amy Northcott for GTWine

“Nestled in the Piccadilly Valley, the CRFT Wines (crftwines.com.au) tasting room is the ultimate spot to experience the Adelaide Hills.”

CRFT’S 2021 GRÜNER VELTLINERS

By Dan Traucki for WineAssist

“All three are excellent examples of what an exciting and delightful variety GRÜNER VELTLINER is, and are eminently drinkable, delightful wines.”

Top 2020 Shiraz in South Australia

The Real Review

CRFT Wines Shiraz - The Rohrlach Vineyard (2020) named #2 in 22 wines for the top South Australian Shiraz of 2020. Also awarded 92 points.

Exploring the Adelaide Hills' valley of Chardonnay

By Tony Love for InDaily

“To the east of Uraidla is CRFT Wines, a tiny organic vineyard, winery and cellar door that sheds light on Pinots, Gruners and Chardonnay from either their own block or those in close proximity, highlighting a genuine terroir focus of their immediate surrounds.”

CRFTed grüner from the hills

By Huon Hook for The Real Review

“All three (CRFT grüners) are very good quality, my favourite being the K1 Vineyard. This wine has an extra degree of richness and dimension, maybe a suggestion of barrel and what appears to be a higher degree of ripeness … this is a superb grüner. I ended up drinking most of it with dinner.”

a lesser-known hero of the Adelaide Hills

By Tony Love for Halliday Wine Companion

“CRFT is so devoted to [Grüner Veltliner] that it releases three from single vineyards across the region, including from its own Arranmore home block in Carey Gully on the edge of the Piccadilly Valley. They tend towards the more textural and fuller-bodied reserve style, with judicious skin contact, neutral oak maturation and lees influence, and have attracted a new generation to the variety."

New winemakers and distillers you should visit in the Adelaide Hills

By Mark Chipperfield for Traveller

“Wine tasting at CRFT wines is an intimate experience. The cellar door occupies what was once a run-down 1900s shearing shed and with its retro furniture, wood-burning heater and record player spinning vinyl discs it feels more like dropping into someone's cosy lounge room.”

Wine of the Week AU

By Toni Paterson MW for The Real Review

“An intriguing aroma of beeswax, clotted cream, lemon zest and freshly picked apples. The palate is vibrant and expressive with excellent flavour plus grapefruit pithiness on the close. Although it has excellent weight and intensity, it is not over-fruity. A delicious, well-made wine with a unique flavour profile. Score: 94 ★★★★”

The Adelaide Hills are alive: here's how best to enjoy them

By Max Brearley for delicious

“Having tried their Grüner Veltliner days before, while dining at Orana, it was a case of heading to the source; a tin shed come cellar door in the Piccadilly Valley, the destination.”

A growing feel for Grüner V

By Charles Gent for The Adelaide Review

“Our thoughts were to bring to the people the beautiful characters that we were seeing at each of these sites, so they can see what the flavours of that place taste like, not necessarily what a winemaker thinks they want.”

CRFT Wines Opens to the Public

By Scott Taddeo for Broadsheet Adelaide

"The two of them, with the help of a local builder, have rejuvenated the 100-year-old shearing shed and horse stable into a tasting room for the public. 'We really wanted to keep it as a rustic space,' Helbig says. 'You can even see in places where the timber has been chewed on by the animals,' adds Ries."

New winery and cellar door for Carey Gully

By Johnny von Einem for InDaily

“Having a winery, cellar door and a vineyard, that’s always been a dream for us, and it’s pretty amazing,” Helbig says. “That’s the ultimate, isn’t it? If you go visit somewhere, you actually get to meet the people that are making the produce, or the people behind the brand. I think that’s what special about it, for me anyway.”

CRFT Wines brings together partners in vine

By James Halliday for The Australian

"In tasting the wines I was blown away by the effortless transition from pinot noir to Barossa shiraz, each and every wine with jewel-like precision and beauty. Nor did the two white wines spoil the story."

Arts and craft

By Jane Faulkner for Halliday Magazine

"It’s cool to see young winemakers getting behind a variety deserving more love and attention, as in gewurztraminer."

25 great reds over $30

By James Halliday for Halliday Wine Companion

"This has all the attributes of fine wine at its zenith. Yes, it’s a great vineyard, and from the cooler Eden Valley, but Candice Helbig has coaxed every ounce of flavour from this medium-bodied wine, giving a sarcastic salute to those who think shiraz’s life starts with 14.5% alcohol, and needs yet more to obtain balance."

Best new wineries 2016

By James Halliday for Halliday Wine Companion

"Life and business partners New Zealand-born Frewin Ries and Barossa-born Candice Helbig crammed in multiple wine lives before establishing CRFT in 2012, their first vintage following in ’13. Four wines at 95 and 96 points, two at 94, and two at 93 say it all."

HOT 100 WINES 2016/17

By The Adelaide Review

"White wines that are all about texture: CRFT Wines' 2016 Gruner Veltliner from the Adelaide Hills."

The Best New Wineries of 2016

By Riedel: The Wine Glass Company

"If you have sampled one of CRFT Wines’ delicious Gruner Veltliner or Pinot Noirs, you can count yourself among one of the lucky few. The winery restricts itself to small batches, producing only about 2,000 bottles from two to three tonnes of fruit ... their stunning labels further demonstrate their connection to the earth, featuring a unique photograph of the soil from their vineyards."