RiverBank goes to City Wine

Published on June 6, 2018 in the Joondalup Weekender, Wanneroo Weekender and North Coast Weekender.

FANCY a glass of vermentino, petit verdot, fiano or nero d'Avola? 
These are some of the lesser known wines being made in the Swan Valley and the new winemak­er at RiverBank Estate, Digby Led­din, wants to persuade consumers to give them a try. 
After 20 years at Laments, Digby joined RiverBank under new owner­ship of the Lembo family, inheriting llha of vineyard with 13 varieties of grapes. 
While the Swan Valley is known for producing and successfully pro­moting its verdelho and chenin blanc, Digby is keen to encourage customers to try some of the less well-known wines that flourish in the region. 
To do that, RiverBank is partici­pating in food and wine festivals for the very first time, making its debut with City Wine at the Perth Cultural Centre on June 8 and 9. 
"Most of our sales are going to be through cellar door so we need to get out and meet the public, retail­ers and wholesalers, anyone we can," Mr Leddin said. 
RiverBank will be promoting new labels and lines released in Septem­ber 2017: 'On The Run' and 'Rebel­lious'. The names are based around the now defunct Riverbank Deten­tion Centre next door to the winery at 126 Hamersley Road, Caversham. 
With the RiverBank cellar door focusing on alternative varieties, Rebellious aims to showcase wines that are not quite mainstream like vermentino, fiano, nero d'Avola, and a new label may soon be in the works to cater to export demands for mainstream varieties like semil­lon sauvignon, shiraz and cabernet. The Run will be offering a newly bottled sweet rose, a chardonnay semillon verdelho blend, a cabernet 
merlot blend and a non-vintage bubbles blend, while Rebellious in­cludes a verdelho, a trophy-winning vermentino from Blackwood for Best WA Alternate White, and a top­selling rose blend made last year despite floods to 60 per cent of the vineyard. 
City Wine will celebrate five years of bringing leading WA bou­tique wineries to the heart of Perth when the two-day festival runs at the Urban Orchard on June 8 and 9. 
As well as wine, beverages from 27 stalls will include craft beer, cider and spirits and a sparkling drinks bar. 
And for those who fancy a cock­tail there will be a Mojito Bar. Tapas style food will be avail­able.