Blend: 100% Malbec
Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.74 | Titratable acidity: 5.75 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2022
Cellaring: 5+ years
Tasting Notes:
A deep, brooding purple wine with intense aromas of blackberry, crunchy yet ripe raspberry, baked plum, black cherry, blueberry and lots of pepper, paprika, thyme, clove and shortbread notes. The palate is bold, fruity and intense with a full body, crisp acidity, medium ripe tannins and lots of ripe summer berries, blackberry and sun-dried tomato with some complex pink peppercorn, cocoa, rosemary, pipe tobacco and dried black olive notes on the long finish. Pair this with braised short ribs or vegetables and lamb grilled over charcoal.
– Rhys Pender, Master of Wine
Wine Making:
The 2020 growing season was a rather average one characterized by certain weather events. Spring’s arrival was delayed, followed by bouts of rain in late May and early June which led to slightly lower yields and resultingly high-quality grapes. August added ideal summer heat, ripening the grapes slowly which extended into September. Sunny, clear skies in the fall helped make up for the late start to the season and benefited flavour development in the grapes while cool nights helped
retain acidity.
The Malbec grapes for this wine were harvested by hand from our Burrowing Owl vineyards in Osoyoos and Oliver between over the first three weeks of October. They were destemmed and gently crushed before being gravity fed into stainless tanks for skin maceration and alcoholic fermentation. Both “free run” and pressed wine were then moved into
barrels for malolactic fermentation, followed by 17 months ageing in a combination of French, Hungarian, and American oak before being blended and bottled.
