Blend: 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc, 23% Melot, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec
Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.0% | PH: 3.72 | Titratable acidity: 5.79 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2021
Cellaring: 10+ years
Tasting Notes:
A classic and complex Meritage blend showing black plum, blackcurrant and blueberry fruit with savoury layers of burlap, dried sage and roasted red peppers with toasty vanilla and shortbread oak notes. The structured palate is built to age with firm, ripe tannins, crisp acidity, a full body and a long finish. Flavours of redcurrant, blackcurrant, prune plum and black cherry meld with paprika, licorice, graphite and mint. Pair this with slow roasted prime rib, Mediterranean herb rubbed Bison or slow braised vegetable stew.
– Rhys Pender, Master of Wine
Wine Making:
Spring arrived early in 2019, allowing for early and even bud break, flowering and fruit set. This was followed by a warm, yet more moderate summer. The summer heat was enough to produce nicely concentrated levels of ripeness in the grapes and the cool autumn provided conditions for acidity to be retained in the fruit as well, providing the wine with a lively freshness to balance the ripe fruit notes.
Our Bordeaux grape varieties were harvested by hand from our Eva’s Vineyard in Osoyoos and Burrowing Owl Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench through October and into November. Vinified and barrel-aged separately for 15 months, the wines were then assembled with great care to create the ideal blend. The best barrels available of each single-varietal wine were selected in our cellar for this wine. After the components were combined, they were barreled for another three months to achieve full integration. The wine was then bottled and left to mature further before its release.
