Nose
Violets, blueberries, cedar and black currants accompanied by hints of
dark chocolate, raspberries and mocha.
Palate
Structured yet generous entry of primary red fruit, spiced plums and
wet stone. A red and black fruit core extends the entire length of the
wine, held together by tensile oak and fruit tannin and a luscious
blueberry and liquorice finish.
Growing Conditions
The nature of the 2016 to 2017 vintage enjoyed accumulated warmth
up until early new year. January temperatures were similar to
historical data for the area, in contrast, February and March were a
fraction cooler. Those who risked all by waiting for the Indian
Summer, were rewarded with tannin ripeness and the retention of the
most beautiful fruit perfumes at relatively low sugar levels. The 2017
vintage highlighted the importance of best practice vineyard
management, focusing on the basics of open and well solarised
canopies, with balanced crop loads, so that the fruit could ripen at a
reasonable pace.
Winemaking
The fruit is harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, so that each berry is
just split. This is to ensure minimal berry degradation during the
fermentation process and to promote fresh, clean flavour production
by our very specifically selected yeast strain. Our ferments are, by
industry standards, cool and gentle, allowing slower, more controlled
extraction of tannin and flavour. The wine is pumped over three times
a day and then judiciously backed off as the wine develops.
This wine was on skins in the fermenter for 14 days, before gentle
pressing and barrelling down. The result is clean, pure fruit flavours,
boasting supple yet powerful tannin. The wine was aged in French
oak barriques for 10 months before the wine was removed from
barrels, clarified and bottled.
Aging
Up to 10 years, however we enjoy it for freshness now.
Appearance
Bright red with hints of dark blue.
