South By South West x Liberty Liquors – Frizzante Naturelle

In 2021 we knew we wanted to make a wine in collaboration with our favourite dynamic duo from South By South West Wines – Liv and Mij (and now a trio with baby Remi!). Initially we thought we wanted to do a still wine and were going to go to Liv and Mij with either a request for a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. However, South by South West were already producing amazing & critically acclaimed wines of those varietals under their own label and it wouldn’t be as much fun for them to do something similar.

After careful consideration (demonstrated by Justin in below image) and discussion amongst all of us, we thought it would be the “more fun” route to make a sparkling wine. “More Fun” being a term we use for slightly more challenging but knowing the quality of wine and work SXSW have produced since their inception, we anticipated Liv and Mij to be up to the challenge.

The ultimate conclusion of all our brainstorming and bouncing back and forth was a Pink Petillant Naturel (Pet Nat) – aptly named Frizzante Naturelle, or “FN” for short. A mixture of Italian and French to reflect a bit of our old world heritages. The goal of this wine was to make a delicious, easy drinking, easy on the eyes, sparkling wine, that had both fruit power, structure and moreish quality, which is what we absolutely achieved. What is a Pet Nat you ask? Find out here

“A mix of Muscat and Chenin grapes from Treeton Margies. Co-Harvested and co-fermented. Real field blend style. Muscat provides sexy pink hue and the lush aromatics, whilst chenin drives the fruit power and raciness. We’re calling it Frizzante Naturale, you can call it Pet Nat, Bubbles, Sparkling or whatever you want but you will be calling it yum when you’re drinking it…”

We spoke a little more with Liv & Mij about the heritage of South By South West, the Frizz Nat and how it all came together.

L&M: We established our label South by South West with our first vintage in 2016. The idea for the name came about whilst we were doing vintage in California the year prior. At that stage we knew we were coming back to Australia after doing a few vintages overseas in Italy, Canada and California and we wanted a name to highlight the geographical link to the label and what we had learnt by our travels overseas.

South by South West is, and has always been about growing and or sourcing fruit from the South West corner of Western Australia – anywhere from the Swan Valley down to the Great Southern and anywhere in between! Our aim is to express both the varietal and terroir driven characteristics in our wines and to showcase what the beautiful south west corner of Western Australia has to offer. From grape to glass our craft is providing wine enjoyment and every bottle celebrates and shares a little of what we love about the amazing south west.

Liberty’s: Moving onto the star of the show, the Frizzante Naturelle, could you tell us a little more about the structure and process behind its production?

L&M: Right from the start we knew we wanted to make a fun, aromatic rosé bomb. Over the years, rosé has come to be our thing and we love making it so it was a no brainer to make the ‘Frizzante Naturelle’ with a rosé base of Chenin Blanc and Muscat grapes both sourced and harvested together from a vineyard in Treeton.  The fruit was harvested in March and spent a short stint on skins before being pressed together to tank and co-fermented.

Liberty’s: With the label design (which we love from both a graphic and texture perspective) what was the inspiration behind it?

L&M: The inspiration behind the label design was simple – the fizz! We wanted to create something that was a visual representation of what is inside the bottle – something fizzy and fun, with a burst of colour that pops off the shelf!

Liberty’s: As we both know there was a bit of worry with what the final result would be, but what was your guys experience with the whole process?

L&M: These wines provide a little rollercoaster of emotions and challenges that’s for sure – as you don’t know how they will ultimately turn out! However, that unknown is what makes these wines interesting and fun – both from a winemaking perspective and stylistically as a wine.

We had a solid winemaking plan in place for this wine prior to harvesting the fruit, so as far as we were concerned, we just needed to execute that plan and then cross our fingers and hope it was the right plan – which we are excited to say it was!

Liberty’s: A perfectly executed plan, well done ladies! We can’t wait for our customers to get involved and try out this beautifully procured wine, any shout outs?

L&M: We want to thank you guys, Pete, Sam of Black Cocky, Nath from Willespie Wines for helping out with the bottling as well as Rhys & Emma from Vallée Du Venom for the old school labeller!

The Frizzante Naturelle is now available in store and online here