Welcome

Region
Yarra Valley

Appearance
Bright red with some purple highlights

Bouquet
Fragrant complex brambly fruits with dark chocolate aromas

Palate
Savoury palate with fine integrated tannins and a lick of rusticity

Vintage Conditions
The 2007 growing season was warm and dry giving early flavour development at balanced alcohol levels.

Winemaking
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (planted in 1990) and Sangiovese (planted in 2003). Vines are cane pruned and later shoot thinned to 18 bunches per vine. Being young vines, the Sangiovese had 6 bunches per vine. The vines are hand picked into 8 kg buckets and transported to the winery. Yarra Valley soils are quite old and weathered and the wines often lack natural tannin that typical clarets have in spades. Sangiovese is included in the blend to give some natural tannin and savouriness. Fruit is destemmed, partially crushed and tipped into closed 14 tonne fermenters. The wine is fermented naturally, kept at a minimum temperature of 25° C and on skins for ~ 40 days then pressed, settled overnight and gravity filled to new and used casks where it matures at 16° C for 14 months. It is then racked by gravity and the final blending completed. All our red wines complete malic acid fermentation for microbial stability and deacidification. Aged in new and used French oak casks for 14 months.

Wine Analysis
Alc/Vol : 13.0%   pH : 3.44   TA : 6.4 g/L

Cellaring
5 - 15 years in good cellaring conditions. These ‘claret styles’ age very well over time.

Suggested Cuisine
Grilled meats, slow cooked rabbit or pasta with funghi.

General Characteristics
Dry  Medium Bodied