Colour

Deep-red with a garnet hue

Aroma

Ripe cherry and spiced plum fruit flavours with toast and savoury notes from the French oak barrels.

Palate

A rich and weighty full-bodied wine with a wonderful velvet texture. The fruit and carefully integrated oak result in a complex and intriguing wine with a great length. The wine is ready to drink now or can be carefully cellared for 2-6 years.

Suggested Food Matches

Ideally matched with rich game and venison dishes, or a lamb casserole. Serve at ambient temperature.

Grape Growing

The grapes were sourced from the Dijon clones 115 and 667. The vines were pruned to 2 canes with vertical shoot positioning. Extensive shoot thinning was followed by crop reduction and hand leaf removal. The early ripening season was cooler than average, resulting in a late flowering. However, warm dry conditions over budburst and later in the season lead to balanced yields, clean fruit and excellent flavours.

Harvest Dates

Winemaking

The fruit was handpicked, crushed and cold soaked on skins for 6 days. Regular hand plunging of the cap ensured gentle extraction of colour and fruit flavours from the skins. Once the fermentation had finished the free run and light pressings were transferred to French oak barriques for 15 months maturation.

Bottling Analyses

Alcohol

Residual Sugar

pH

TA

13.0%

1.3 g/L

3.65

5.6 g/L

This wine is bottled using a screwcap to preserve freshness and purity of flavour.

Winemaker – Sam Smail