Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.88 | Titratable acidity: 6.63 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2014
Cellaring: 5-10 years
Tasting Notes:
Rich aromas of blueberry and blackberry mesh together with layers of leather, earth, tobacco and white pepper. This full-bodied wine fills the mouth with a plump and silky feel complimented with a well-balanced structure of acidity and tannin. Seductive flavours of black cherry, tobacco and smoke meld together beautifully on the lingering finish. Made in an approachable style for your immediate pleasure, it displays great ageing potential. Pair with heavier meat dishes like a grilled pepper steak topped with a dollop of melted blue cheese or spiced ribs glazed with hoisin sauce.
Wine Making:
2012 made for a great growing season given warm temperatures without being too hot. Optimal conditions allowed the grapes to bring sugars and acids into perfect harmony. This was an excellent year for red wines as the grapes were allowed a long hang time helping contribute to their phenolic ripeness thus giving the wines a strong concentration of flavours.
The grapes were harvested by hand from Burrowing Owl’s vineyard on Black Sage Road at the beginning of November. They were de-stemmed and gently crushed before be ing fed by gravity flow into stainless tanks for fermentation. After completion the wine was given time to settle on its skins for further extraction. The juice was then pressed off and moved into barrels to allow for the malolactic fermentation. Afterwards, the wine was transferred to a mix of barrels consisting of 45% French oak, 50% American and 5% Eastern European with 25% new oak being used. It was aged in barrel for 20 months which helped integrate the complex flavours and give the tannins a chance to smooth and mellow before bottling.
