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Awards, Ratings & Reviews
Gold Medal — The Drinks Business Global Grenache Masters
(2022 Vintage, Awarded: 2024)
96 Points — Ray Jordan
(July 2025)
“De Bortoli have been using amphora for some years now and here is a perfect example of what it can do with a wine. It was very much a handcrafted wine and was fermented and then matured in amphora clay pots for about 8 months. Something happens in this process which impacts the wine and gentle rose petals, and subtle earthy notes of grenache. The palate is so seamlessly integrated with fine tannins, allowing the fruit to roll effortlessly towards a long, focused finish. We love this style of wine.”
94 Points — Halliday Wine Companion
(Aug 2023)
“Six months on skins in 3 x 1000L amphora. Drained off and put back to amphora for a further two months. This is interesting. And lovely. And charming. And serious. Clove and general woodsy spice notes float seamlessly through smoked meat, black cherry, roasted plum and red currant flavours. It’s medium in weight, has a frisky acidic glint in its eye, and finishes with complex, slightly rugged tannin. It’s intriguing and more.”
North South Wines — United Kingdom
(October 2025)
“Beautiful, fresh, vibrant fruit. Texture is really fine and exquisite from spending 8 months in amphora, it's beautifully juicy and it's gonna be perfect with turkey this Christmas.”
Winepilot
(August 2025)
“It was very much a handcrafted wine and was fermented and then matured in amphora clay pots for about 8 months. Something happens in this process which impacts the wine and gentle rose petals, and subtle earthy notes of Grenache. The palate is so seamlessly integrated with fine tannins, allowing the fruit to roll effortlessly towards a long, focused finish. We love this style of wine.”
About This Wine
This is a single-vineyard Grenache from the Freemans Bridge vineyard in Heathcote, purchased by the De Bortoli family in 2016. Soil types vary across the property, with heavier clay soils from the Mt Camel range contributing perfume and structure to the Grenache.
The wine is fermented with ambient yeast using a combination of hand plunging and gentle turnovers. It is left on skins for four months, then pressed and racked back to clay amphora for a further four months of softening.
About the Winery
PHI is a single-vineyard range created by the third and fourth generations of the De Bortoli family. The name references the 21st letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet, symbolising balance, harmony and proportion, reflecting an approach that gives equal weight to climate, soil and maker.
Specifications
- Vintage: 2022
- Grape Variety: Grenache
- Region: Heathcote / Victoria / Australia
- Fermentation: Ambient yeast
- Maturation: Clay amphora
- Production Attributes: Handcrafted
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Acidity pH: 3.51
- Acidity TA: 5.8 g/L
- Winemaker: Steve Webber and Kate Webber
- Sweetness: Dry
