Nose
The wine gives up aromas of both red and black fruits with a hint of cracked pepper, plus oak derived smoky vanilla an mocha notes
Palate
The palate is impressively concentrated - filed with cherry, a mix of wild berries, cinnamon and chocolate. The fine tannins and gentle acidity provide definition and the length is impressive.
Growing Conditions
2016 was one of the longest vintages for the region on record, preceded by good winter rains. A rainfall event in January helped arrest rising sugar concentrations allowing tannin & flavour development in the red varieties to catch up & reach perfect equilibrium
Harvest
Hand-picked in two small batches on 4th & 11th March 2016 at Baumés between 13.3 Be° - 13.9 Be°
Bottling
The wine was bottled on 29th January 2019
Winemaking
The fruit was de-stemmed, sorted & cold soaked for 4 days prior to fermentation. 5% underwent whole bunch fermentation, and the entire ferment was hand-plunged in 1 tonne open fermenters & open top barrels, and then left for 13, 14 and 101 days on skins
Aging
Following barrel maturation in hogsheads (of which a third were new) for 18 months, individual barrels were selected to create the final blend.
Appearance
Deep dark red with a crimson rim
Food Pairing
Grilled venison backstrap
