Lichen are queer things, they’re neither one thing nor another.

I feel the same way about dark rosés and the other liminal skin contact wines. They fascinate me; I love how they exist in their own niches, they often exist in entirely their own categories and they’re endlessly interesting.

Courtesy of several long lunches, I’ve found myself in a position where I now have two winemaking projects on the go. One, with Sergio at Black Book, a dark rosé Pinoton and Cabernet Noir blended with some skin contact Sauvignac as a proof of concept to show that hybrid varieties if used innovatively can be delicious and sellable. The other a saignée method sparkling Pinot Noir with my friends down at Langham.

Suffice to say, I’m pretty excited about harvest this year. Before that, I’ve got vineyards to visit, a whole new cast of grape varieties to learn about and a stack of quite detailed plans to be made before I go and get my hands dirty.

Longer term, I’d really like to make Lichen by Some Mondays a constantly evolving series of wines that explore the interest and potential of the world of wine in the margins.

To get to that point, I’m planning on running a crowd funder to get the first wines out of the door. It’ll be principally to pay for grapes, bottles and labels and the rewards will basically be wine, or me hosting and cooking a dinner party with paired dark rosés for you and your friends. So, essentially en primeur but cheaper and more fun.

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