High Tops & Fly Drops

It’s no secret that some of us at Team Unico are into sneakers - and pretty nerdy about it. If you see big dawg Brendan Carter out and about, more often than not you’ll catch him in a pair of Air Force 1s - in many different colourways. If you hang around the cellar door you might catch a glimpse at the rest of the Cru’s favourites. Various Adidas and New Balance 247’s are a common sight, Vintage Blazers on a good day - stop me if I’ve lost you. In short - we like shoes. So much so we’ve changed the name of one of our most popular wines - The River - to Fresh A.F., in a nod to classic AF1’s (and other reasons… ;) ) - and also we’ve added a splash of skin-contact Zibibbo cause why the heck not? So this got us thinking. If you’re kitted up with AF1’s, Fresh A.F. is the ultimate wine to drink. But what about other sneakers? It’s a bit of a wacky and esoteric concept, so it’s right up our alley! Wine and style guide, what will we think of next? Here's 5 classic shoes to drink with 5 classic wines! 

Adidas Gazelles & Grosset Riesling

Here’s two things are that are indisputable: The Adidas Gazelle is a timeless, sleek silhouette for a shoe that will never go out of style and there is no more iconic white wine in Australia than Clare Valley Riesling (dont @ me). This is a no brainer of a pairing. The only questions are what colourway of Gazelle (that’s for you to decide) and what Riesling producer?

It’s hard to look past Grosset, a game changer in the world of organic farming in the Clare Valley

The definitive benchmark of Polish Hill and Springvale Riesling. Either way you’ll be having a great time, and these bad boys do incredibly well with age - much like Gazelles.

Puma Suedes & Lark Hill Grüner Veltliner

Puma are a grossly underrated brand - and the Puma Suede is as essential a sneaker as the best of them. It’s a simple and classy style and everytime I catch someone wearing them I’m reminded of just that - they’re just so freaking cool. Grüner Veltliner is just as cool, as classy as Riesling or Fiano, and it’s being smashed out the park in one of the most underrated regions in the country by a truly classic producer - Lark Hill from the Canberra District. Lean and clean is what both Suedes and this Grüner have in spades - do yourself a favour and add it to the collections.

Converse Chuck Taylors & Ochota Barrels Fugazi Grenache

The Converse Chuck Taylor is a shoe worn by the iconoclastic. Punks and misfits, the Ramones, Nirvana, The Strokes.

It is a shoe for those ready to challenge the status quo.

Taras Ochota (of Ochota Barrels) represents that in the wine world, with an approach to McLaren Vale Grenache that has broken the varietal mould - light and delicate but with appropriate oomph. It’s only appropriate that the wine itself is named after one of the great punk bands of the 1980s - Fugazi. It’s one of those wines that once you try it’s always going to be a staple in the cellar - like Chucks in the wardrobe.

Adidas Superstars & Whistler’s Back to Basics

When Run DMC burst on the scene in the 80s, they introduced the world to Hip Hop, pioneering a genre still in its infancy. They were challenging no doubt, but they had more broad appeal than contemporaries like Public Enemy and N.W.A, and they managed to take Hip Hop to a global scale - and they did it wearing Adidas Superstars, immortalised in the song “My Adidas”. There’s kinship between Hip Hop and the emerging Orange wine renaissance - a new way to look at an existing style - Whistler’s Back to Basics Blend is one of our favourites. Jovial, bright and juicy as anything - it tastes like summer with the right amount of texture! Even the bottle itself is like a Superstar! Wider than your average but still damn stylish!

Here’s a question for ya: is Michael Jordan more influential on or off the court? We’d argue the latter: The Air Jordan brand of his own creation has a net worth of a completely ridiculous 1.9 billion dollars. The shoes themselves have now seen 33 different iterations but we still hold a strong adoration for the 1’s - the beginning of the legacy.

In Australia, there is no wine brand that speaks legacy more than Penfolds, and their iconic wine is indisputably Grange.

So iconic that’s on the 50th anniversary of it’s first vintage, it was Heritage Listed in South Australia. It's a fitting match, icons in their fields side by side - even the colours are spot on! Sure, Grange is a little bit daggy and old school, but say what you will, much like Jordan 1s, it has stood the test of time.