JOSEPH Sparkling Red is back!
Friends, family, and fellow wine lovers all ask me the same question this time of year:
"Matteo! When is the JOSEPH Sparkling Red coming back?”
For many, this wine is a holiday tradition. At our house, Christmas is not complete without it. I love popping the cork on a chilled bottle as the family arrives to celebrate.
Today you are the first to know - we have released the 2025 disgorgement!
We handcraft the Sparkling Red using a unique blend of aged reds from the past fifty years. This is a brooding, opulent wine with heady aromas of leather, spice, cedar, and a smooth, velvety finish.
Click here to watch my dad Joe share how and why we make this wine.
Here's what critics have to say about the JOSEPH Sparkling Red:
“One of Australia's treasures.” - James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
"An inimitable benchmark that everyone must experience." - Tyson Stelzer, The Australian Sparkling Report
“My forever Xmas wine…It’s a master stock of a wine.” - Andrew Graham, The Australian Wine Review
Each year we bottle only a tiny quantity in order to preserve the integrity of our decades-old base stock. Do not miss out - this wine will be gone long before Christmas.
Click here to order the JOSEPH Sparkling Red.
As always we are offering a bonus bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and free shipping with every mixed or straight dozen.
Life's too short to drink anything other than great wine!
Matteo Grilli
Owner & Winemaker
Be the first to comment on this postCalamari alla Griglia 🦑
Seafood just tastes better in Italy.
If you’ve ever had a European summer, you know the scene. You’re dining outside at a lido - beach hut - the air heavy with salt and sunscreen. The food arrives. Nothing fancy: a simple plate of grilled fish, maybe a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of local olive oil.
Then you take a bite, and it’s perfectly fresh and tender. You wash it down with a crisp white and think - this little shack could have a Michelin star.
So what’s the secret?
Yes, it’s the freshness. But we’ve got some of the world’s best seafood right here in South Australia. Yes, it’s the view. But stand at Port Willunga with a glass of Pecorino in hand, and you’ll rival the Amalfi Coast.
The real answer? It’s the Italian approach.
They understand texture. They know that great seafood doesn’t need beer batter or marinades - just the right balance of crisp and tender, achieved in minutes with good olive oil and heat.
My grandparents from Le Marche (seafood heaven) made the best example of this: Calamari 'alla Griglia' - on the grill!
It's a subtle twist on typical calamari - crispy toasted breadcrumbs give way to tender pieces of freshly cooked squid.
Click here for our Calamari alla Griglia recipe.
Serve with a lemon wedge and a chilled glass of our new Pecorino. One mouthful and you’ll see - it’s Mediterranean Summer on a plate.
Buon appetito,
Matteo Grilli
Owner & Winemaker
Our new Pecorino (wine...not cheese!)
13/10/2025 at 11:08 AM
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The 2025 Cold Pressed has arrived!
The 2025 JOSEPH Cold Pressed is finally here!
We started blending Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the late 1980s.
Back then, dedicated olive groves hardly existed. We had to hand-pick olives from wild trees growing in our parklands and the Adelaide Hills.
Today, South Australia has become an olive paradise. For decades we’ve sourced fruit from the finest groves this state has to offer.
The result? Our new oil is brimming with notes of almond, green banana, and the peppery kick that JOSEPH oil is famous for.
We make the Cold Pressed for drizzling on green salads, fresh pasta, and bread still warm from the oven.
See me taste the new oil here!
Our First Run olive oil sold out within weeks of release. Don’t miss this chance to taste the new season’s Cold Pressed!
We offer free shipping and a bonus bottle of olive oil with any straight or mixed dozen of wine and oil.
Click here to order the 2025 JOSEPH Cold Pressed.
Buon appetito,
Matteo Grilli, winemaker
Fava Bean & Pecorino Crostini
Fresh fava beans and tasty Pecorino Romano – this is a classic springtime pairing in Italy, and perfect for enjoying with a glass of crisp white wine like our La Biondina.
A freshly pressed olive oil like our JOSEPH is a must for adding flavour and spice!
If you can't get your hands on fresh fava beans, frozen will do just fine once thawed.
Ingredients
- 2.00 kg fresh fava beans (in husks) or 500g frozen
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- 300 g Pecorino Romano
- JOSEPH Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Make the purée
Using a fork, roughly mash the beans into a light, chunky purée. Stir through the chopped spring onions, lemon zest, a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and season well with salt and pepper.
2. Toast the bread
Lightly grill or toast the slices of bread. While still warm, drizzle with a little JOSEPH Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
3. Assemble the crostini
Spread each slice of bread with the fava bean mixture, then top with thick slices of Pecorino Romano. Finish with a final drizzle of olive oil.
This is a delicious springtime starter before moving onto main course!
22/09/2025 at 4:19 PM
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Angel Gully Cellaring Guide
Clarendon’s cooler climate provides the perfect growing conditions for our JOSEPH Angel Gully Shiraz.
For more than 30 years we have loved growing Shiraz on rocky sites with shallow soils.
Made to be delicious on release but will age for a long time in the cellar, here are my recommendations for the best times to enjoy each vintage.
Matteo Grilli, Winemaker
2021 – A beautifully balanced vintage with mulberry, violet, and dark cocoa aromas. The palate is silky yet structured, with vibrant fruit carrying through a long finish. Drinking superbly now, but built to reward 10–15 years in the cellar.
2020 – From a warm, low-yielding year comes a powerful wine brimming with ripe plum, blackberry compote, and mocha. Dense and opulent, perfect with rich roasts, it will evolve gracefully for another 8–12 years.
2018 – Beginning to show its secondary complexity, with dried fig, spice, and leather layered over dark fruit. A firm backbone and savoury length make it impressive now, with peak drinking through 2030 and beyond.
2017 – A cooler season has given lifted aromas of red plum, pepper, and florals. Medium-bodied with bright acidity and fine tannins, it is drinking elegantly now and will remain graceful for another 5–8 years.
2016 – At nine years old, the wine has developed savoury notes of potpourri, dried herbs, and mushroom, softened by mellow tannins. Enjoyable now with veal or lamb, and best consumed over the next 5 years.
2013 – At peak maturity, showing stewed plum, cedar spice, and a rich thread of dark chocolate alongside hints of orange rind. Silky and complex, it is superb now with braised meats and will hold for a few more years.
2011 – A challenging year has produced a savoury, autumnal Shiraz with leather, cranberry, and earthy mushroom notes. Best opened now alongside game or rustic fare.
2009 – Fully mature and soulful, showing prune, raisin, dark chocolate, and tobacco. Smooth and mellow on the palate, this vintage is ready to be enjoyed today while at its best.
Tasting underway! The scene from my kitchen table.
04/09/2025 at 10:14 AM
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Risotto Con Salsicce e Radicchio
Radicchio has been a winter staple in our house for as long as I can remember.
Mum would even take us to the annual Radicchio Festival at Adelaide’s Northern Italian Veneto Club, where growers paraded their prize heads of lettuce. The highlight? Tossing gold coins onto a dance floor covered in radicchio – closest coin won the champion head!
Pair this Northern Italian inspired risotto with our Primo Estate Nero d'Avola. Its elegant spice and savoury red fruit balance the gentle bitterness of radicchio and richness of pork sausage.
-Matteo Grilli, Owner & Winemaker
Ingredients
- 400 g arborio rice
- 4 Italian pork sausages, skin removed and cut into thumb size pieces
- 1 head of radicchio lettuce, leaves shredded
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1.5 l chicken stock
- 200 g parmesan freshly grated
- 4 tablespoons JOSEPH Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Directions
1. Heat the chicken stock to a gentle simmer and season to taste.
2. In a large saucepan, sauté the onion with 2 tbsp olive oil until softened (about 1 minute).
3. Add sausage pieces and cook until lightly coloured, 3–4 minutes.
4. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes to coat with oil.
5. Add stock a ladle at a time, stirring gently and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next.
6. After 7–8 minutes, add the radicchio and continue cooking until the rice is al dente.
7. Remove from heat and stir through half the parmesan and remaining olive oil.
Serve immediately, topped with extra parmesan and hearty glass of red. Buon appetito!
01/09/2025 at 2:14 PM
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Venetian Sausage Stew 🚣♂️
When I was growing up, there were a few dishes my mother from Northern Italy would always make on the coldest winter nights.
One of them was Salsicce con Fagioli - pork sausages simmered slowly with tomato, white beans, onion and herbs. Simple, rustic, and rich enough to warm you right through.
We’ve just added the full recipe to our website. It’s one of those easy one-pan dinners that makes your kitchen smell like you’ve stepped into a cosy trattoria on a cold night in Italy.
I love serving it with crusty bread and a generous drizzle of our new JOSEPH First Run Olive Oil.
It's the finishing touch that takes rustic cooking to the next level.
Matteo Grilli, owner & winemaker
11/08/2025 at 10:10 AM
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Our first Montepulciano!🍷🏰
This is the wine I’ve always wanted to make: the Primo Estate Montepulciano.
I first tasted Montepulciano at a festa in Le Marche, my grandfather Primo’s homeland in Italy. It was poured into glass tumblers with smoky arrosticini lamb skewers - rustic, joyful, and unforgettable.
Years later, I discovered Rosso Conero - the bold, oak-aged Montepulciano style that Le Marche is famous for. That glass changed how I saw the grape: earthy and relaxed, but capable of real elegance and depth.
That moment sparked this wine.
Finally, in 2023 we found a small parcel of fruit in McLaren Vale with the right balance. Fermented in concrete, aged in seasoned oak - a nod to the traditional Conero style.
The result?
A medium-bodied red with plum, black cherry, and a hint of violet. Notes of dried thyme and rosemary add a savoury edge. Bright, savoury, and made for food - especially grilled meats.
Click here to discover our new Montepulciano - salute!
Matteo Grilli
Owner & Winemaker
04/08/2025 at 4:43 PM
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The 2025 JOSEPH First Run Olive Oil
Once a year, for a limited time, we invite you to experience the freshest, most vibrant extra virgin olive oil that South Australia has to offer.
The 2025 JOSEPH First Run has been made using early-harvested olives to capture the most intense flavours of the new season.
After several cool years, the trees produced another small crop this season. The result is a pristine oil with concentrated green banana and cut grass aromas. Its crisp, fruit-driven flavours are followed by a clean, peppery finish.
We make the First Run for drizzling over crusty bread, dressing salads, or to enhance dishes once cooking is complete.
Click here to see me taste the new oil!
It's so exciting to share this seasonal release at peak freshness. Don't miss this chance to taste the oil at its most flavoursome!
We will deliver all straight or mixed dozens with free shipping and a bonus bottle of olive oil.
Here's to living La Dolce Vita!
Matteo Grilli
Owner & Winemaker