Nose
An enticing blackberry, raspberry and mulberry lift with
beautiful spice notes of pepper and a hint of salami.
Palate
A luscious, soft and delicious entrance is filled with
flavours of juicy raspberry pie and a hint of black jelly beans. The
satin fruit entrance transitions seamlessly, with the finest soft
tannins, to a smooth dry finish with a lingering trace of berry pie.
Growing Conditions
2017 was a cooler and later vintage than the previous 10 years;
a year of elegant, perhaps slightly lighter bodied wines, though
ripe in flavour, vibrant and very perfumed. Higher than average
yields in combination with a cooler season contributed to delayed
ripening of the fruit and good acid retention. Some timely warmth
and sunshine occurred throughout January, although February
temperatures remained moderate with some rainfall. With the
cooler weather, canopy management and fruit thinning was
imperative to mitigate disease pressures and allow for even,
persistent ripening. There was a warm start to March to finish the
white harvest, followed by the driest April since 1982, finishing the
reds beautifully.
Winemaking
The individual batches were sent as whole berries separately into
stainless steel rotating fermentation vessels. In 2017, for the first
time, 100% wild yeast was embraced to ferment all of our red
batches. Before fermentation kicked off the batches experienced a
few days of gentle soak, they were then pressed off when ferment
completed. Open top and use of aeration during fermentation
helped to promote a clean fruit perfume, soften the tannins and
bring vivacity and life to the wine. The wine matured in barriques
for 12 months imparting balance, complexity and softness, before
being blended with a small amount of Malbec to contribute an
additional deep fruit aroma.
Appearance
Bright ruby red.
