Vineyard Blocks

 1 block 3 year old vines on 5 wire vertical trellis.

Clone 20C on 101-14 rootstock.

Elevated east facing slope. Soil deep red Hutton. Yield 2 tons / hect.

Lightly irrigated after varaison to avoid excessive stress during the critical ripening period.

14% merlot included.

 

Vintage Conditions

A dry, hot summer. The ripening period was hot and dry. The harvest was early with ripe, healthy grapes producing big wines with high alcohols.

Harvest date: 1 / 3 / 00 @ 26.1° balling.

 

Production

100% destemming and crushing by hand directly into 2 ton open top fermentation tanks. Spontaneous natural yeast fermentation @ 32ºC with the cap of skins punched down 2 – 6 times a day for 14 days. Wine drained directly to barrels together with single pressing from traditional basket press. All our red wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in the barrel. 25% new French oak and 10% new American oak was used from high quality coopers. Time in barrels 21 months, which included several rackings to gradually clarify the wine and assist maturation development. This wine was lightly fined with egg whites ( 2 – 3 eggs per barrel ), before bottling unfiltered by hand on the property.

Bottling date : 11 December 2001

Production : 142 cases.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Deep, dark, brooding red colour.

Smoky, spicy deep red fruits, vanilla and plum chocolate nose.

Big, rich concentrated fruit palate with full tannic mouthfeel and long, dry finish.

Probably best between 2004 – 2009.

Enjoy with rich meat dishes.

 

Anaylsis

Alc.  15.31             SG.2.4             TA  5.5             pH  3.66              VA  0.64               SO2  40 & 87