Meritage



Blend: Merlot 38% | Cabernet Sauvignon 33% | Cabernet Franc 23% | Malbec 4% | Petit Verdot 2%


Analysis:

Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.83 | Titratable acidity (as tartaric acid): 7.2 g/L


Bottling Date: August 2011


Cellaring: 5 to 7 years


Tasting Notes:

An intense explosion of red and black fruit on the nose leads into layers of complexity in this engaging wine. The ripe blackberry, blueberry compote, raspberry, plum and black cherry aromas are joined by sweet spices, chocolate and the alluring earthy scent of an autumn morning. The palate is well crafted, with intense brambly fruit, refreshing acidity, ripe tannins and well integrated coffee and cocoa oak notes. The finish is long with the savoury roasted sage element of the south Okanagan desert terroir lingering and adding a final element of intrigue. The complexity of this wine will pair nicely with intensely flavoured braised red meat dishes. – Rhys Pender, Master of Wine

Wine Making:

Burrowing Owl Meritage is a blend of five varieties grown in Burrowing Owl’s Vineyard off Black Sage Road in Oliver: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. The components assembled for this blend vary from vintage to vintage, with the best blocks of grapes being selected.

The grapes from each varietal in this blend were separately destemmed, crushed and gravity dropped into closed top stainless steel tanks. The grapes rested at low temperatures prior to being heated and inoculated with our selected yeast strains. Each varietal was fermented separately for 12 to 20 days on skins prior to draining and pressing. The wine was then inoculated with bacteria before being transferred to barrels for Malolactic Fermentation (MLF). At the conclusion of MLF, the wines were racked off lees and transferred back into a mixture of French, American, Hungarian and Russian oak barrels where it was aged with occasional rackings.

During the final individual rackings the components for the 2009 Meritage were blended before being transferred back to barrel with rackings every three months prior to bottling.

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