Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.56 | Titratable acidity: 6.25 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2015
Cellaring: 5+ years
Tasting Notes:
A mix of brambly red berry fruit on the nose with paprika, roasted red pepper, stewed plum, black cherry, dark chocolate and violet along with some sweet vanillin pastry crust. The palate is dry, full bodied and has nice vibrant mixed red and black brambly berry fruit, crisp acidity, the punch of blackberry, juiciness of plum, blueberry, smooth tannins and dark chocolate, dried thyme and some dusty earth. Try with venison sausages with a sweet cassis sauce. Rhys Pender, Master of Wine
Wine Making:
The 2013 early spring allowed for an even bud break, flowering and fruit set. Summer heat ripened the grapes nicely and the cool autumn provided conditions for the acidity to be retained giving the wines a lively freshness to balance the ripe fruit.
The grapes were harvested by hand from Burrowing Owl’s Vineyards in Oliver and Osoyoos, from October 15th to 18th. They were destemmed and gently crushed before being fed by gravity flow into stainless tanks for cold soak (4 days) and alcoholic fermentation (10 days).
Both free run wine and pressed wine were then moved into barrels for malolactic fermentation followed 18 months’ageing. The selection of barrels helped round out the tannins, and contributed complex savoury, toasted and spicy notes. After the blending of the barrels, the wine was bottled unfiltered and left to mature in bottle until its release.
Ageing: 75% French, 17 % American, 8% Hungarian - 34% new oak, 16% neutral
