RedHeads 1888 is the very grown-up, bold and deeply delicious result of a wild winemaking project launched in Australia’s Barossa Valley back in the early 2000s. Ripely fruited with cassis undertones, it shows just how far the winemaking team behind it has come in the last two-plus decades.

You see, at the beginning, the group was a rag-tag bunch of talented area winemakers. They’d spend each day working at some of the country’s biggest, most prominent estates, dragging hoses and producing large volumes of good-but-boring wine, with decisions driven by shareholders.

Then, come quitting time, they’d slip off to a shuttered restaurant called RedHeads, where one of them had secured some discarded winery equipment, plus a stereo, a pinball machine and a beer fridge. The space was a little…eclectic, but it gave the group a place to openly experiment, bounce ideas off of one another and produce the wines they wanted to make.

Using fruit sourced from lauded growers they met at their day jobs, they’d crank out brilliant, small-batch wines unlike anything else available, selling out instantly and stunning critics.

“Each wine is very different and has obviously been made with care and passion,” said Jancis Robinson, MW, of their early efforts.

Today, the RedHeads name remains, but the project has evolved in incredible ways. For one, full-time head winemaker Darren Harvey now calls the shots in the cellar, where he’s aided by a small-but-mighty, much tamer team.

For another, operations have moved into a state-of-the-art winery that’s totally committed to sustainability. Almost entirely solar-powered (97%!), with rainwater recycling and Australian organic certification, it’s helped RedHeads win two of Australia’s top eco awards and multiple Green Awards from The Drinks Business, among others.

This wine was one of the first they began making at their new facility, which is how it earned the name 1888: That’s when an old cottage, one of the oldest buildings in the Barossa, was built on the property. (It’s since been lovingly restored and is now part of the winery.)

Full-bodied with bolder, rounder tannins than in previous years, this vintage has lots of ripe black currant and blackberry character layered with cassis tones across a chocolatey finish. Our allocation is tiny, so order quick if you’d like to try some.