Winemaking

The grapes for this wine were carefully hand-harvested before being gently whole-bunched pressed in modern membrane presses once at the winery. Unsettled, the resulting juice was then moved to a selection of both new and old French oak barriques for fermentation. Specially chosen yeasts were used to inoculate the majority of the barrels, with a small proportion left to undergo a natural or ‘wild’ fermentation with indigenous yeasts. After fermentation was complete each barrel underwent twice weekly batonage - or lees stirring - promoting yeast autolysis which adds both body and complexity to the wine. Malo-lactic fermentation naturally occurred once the weather warmed in the spring, with barrel batches carefully monitored during this time. Once the MLF had finished each barrel was individually assessed, with only the best barrels making it to the final blend. Once blended was completed a light fining was carried out before the wine was filtered and bottled in Early January.

Viticulture

The grapes for this wine are sourced from premium vineyard sites in the sun-drenched Nelson region. An ideal grown season characterised by warm, dry days and cool nights allowed grapes to ripen with a full spectrum of fruit flavours while retaining balanced acidity. This combined with meticulous vineyard management – including shoot thinning and leaf plucking – ensured that perfectly ripe, sound fruit was delivered to the winery at harvest time. Predominantly grown on 15 year-old vines of the Mendoza clone, bunches of intensely flavoured, unevenly sized berries were hand-harvested from the 7th to the 11th April with sugar levels ranging from 22.6 to 25.4 brix.

Analysis

Vintage: 2013

Alcohol: 13.5%

pH: 3.30

T/A: 6.5 g/L

R.S: 3.1 g/L