Flavour & Balance: Charlish & Co

KUITPO, ADELAIDE HILLS: An award-winning chef working in professional kitchens for 27 years, Rebecca Stubbs knows a thing or two about flavour and balance.

While she's also the other half of Coates Wines, with partner Duane Coates, her own label Charlish & Co (named in honour of her foodie mother) was brought to life as a means of flexing her flair for culinary creativity.

“Food is my first love – especially the creative side,” explains Bec. “But working with Duane, and developing lots of first hand winemaking skills with Coates, I discovered there are so many crossovers between food and wine; lots of things happen in the winemaking process that are so similar to preparing food.”

“I love flavours and textural things – it's all definitely a sensory thing for a food geek like me, and [Charlish & Co] allows me to explore them through wine.” – Bec Stubbs

The result is a tidy range of incredible value, complex yet highly drinkable cuvées, fermented with natural yeast and matured in seasoned French oak – all made with the very noble intention of enjoying with great food and elevating any dining experience. 

Charlish & Co Rosso 2022

New Release

A blend of dolcetto, teroldego and lagrein sourced from Kuitpo, Adelaide Hills, with the addition of sangiovese from Langhorne Creek.

Slow, cool fermentation with native yeasts in barrel followed by around eight months maturation in seasoned French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

“This blend reminds me of pinot on the nose and grenache on the palate, with aromas and flavours of rhubarb, blueberry and musk stick. Once it opens up, there's definite liquorice allsorts notes – this is a perfect charcuterie pairing.” – Bec Stubbs

Love for the 2021 Vintage: “Tart forest berries, fresh leaves, dried peppermint, fennel, cumin, earth. A whiff of liquorice, a lick of blood orange. Cranberries with a savoury mix of dried herbs, oregano, thyme… Just enough to dust atop those crunchy cherries. Aromas translate into flavours, light, savoury, crunchy, tannins are chalky but not entirely fine, there’s a nice texture to them. All in all, a very tasty blend bringing together the character of the three grapes and so Italian in feel too. So good.” – Kasia Sobiesiak, The Wine Front

Charlish & Co Tinto 2021 92 Points, The Wine Front

A blend of cabernet from Langhorne Creek, and tempranillo from the K1 vineyard, Kuitpo, Adelaide Hills.

Varieties fermented separately with wild yeasts in open top fermenters, with gentle hand plunging before being pressed off skins for nine months’ maturation in seasoned French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

“From a food mindset, the structure of cabernet blended with the plushness and forgiveness of tempranillo makes perfect sense. Both compliment each other in mouth feel and deliciousness.” – Bec Stubbs

“Herbal freshness, then a sweet core of stewed cherries and plums, cocoa powder finish to tannin. With hints of roasted red capsicum, this wine has charr and chew and dark earth finish. It’s an enjoyable medium-bodied red wine with herbs, spice and ripe fruit. It seems the marriage between Cabernet and Tempranillo works well.” – Kasia Sobiesiak

Charlish & Co Shiraz Viognier 2021

92 Points, The Wine Front

Shiraz sourced from Langhorne Creek blended with a small portion of early picked viognier to brighten and complement the shiraz. 

Cool, native yeast fermentation with gently hand plunging, followed by nine months’ maturation in seasoned French oak.

“2021 will go down in history as an amazing vintage. The intensity of colour and flavouris incredible. Spending an extra nine months in seasoned French oak has softened the tannins further making them supple and unctuous. Viognier adds an exotic fruit note that intertwines with blackberry from the shiraz.” – Bec Stubbs

“Another charming number from chef-come-winemaker Rebecca Stubbs. Black pepper. How lovely. And more. It has a green edge to it, zesty citrus, woody spice. Driven by dark fruit. The aromas are cool and steady, velvety plums and red rose petals. Jasmine note. Just a touch of mid-palate chocolate with orange juice acidity. It flows velvety with succulence. Nice one.” – Kasia Sobiesiak