Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.71 | Titratable acidity: 6.28 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2015
Cellaring: 5+ years
Tasting Notes:
The first Tempranillo from Burrowing Owl Estate Winery. The nose shows toasty vanillin oak, ripe blueberry, mulberry and stewed strawberry along with violet and some savoury tobacco, cigar and baking spice notes. The palate is full bodied with firm ripe tannins, blackberry, blueberry, vanilla, a hint of charred meat and leather, liquorice, graphite, dried woody herbs and some peppery spice. It will age for many years showing more of the savoury Tempranillo character. Try with a slowly roasted lamb shoulder. 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 Tempranillo grapes were harvested by hand on November 3rd 2013 from experimental block A7 at Burrowing Owl’s Vineyard on Black Sage bench. They were de-stemmed and gently crushed before being fed by gravity flow into stainless tank where they were allowed to cold soak for extraction of colour. Alcoholic fermentation lasted 2 weeks with temperatures ranging from 18 to 26 celsius.
The wine was then moved into barrels to allow malolactic fermentation to occur. Afterwards, it was aged for 18 months in a selection of barrels including 50% of American oak, which is unusual at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery but very common for traditional Spanish Tempranillo. The wine was bottled unfiltered and left to age in bottle until its release.
Ageing: 50% French oak, 50 % American with 50% new oak
