Gladstone Vineyard Reserve 'Auld Alliance' 2016

TASTING NOTES

The wine has boysenberry and Cassis blackcurrant notes on the nose, with cedar, dark chocolate and tobacco spice. The palate is dense with lots of fine, chewy tannins, youthful restraint and a slightly sweet entry of soft oak and ripe fruit, a broad palate and a long finish. Enjoy now or cellar for up to 20 years.

pH: 3.49, TA 5.95g/l, residual sugar: <1g/l, alcohol: 13.5%

IN THE WINERY

We handled the different cultivars in separate batches throughout the process up until final blending. The grapes were crushed and de-stemmed into 2-ton open fermenters with yeast cultures inoculated for a controlled fermentation. This lasted about three weeks after which the wine was kept on the skins for a further four weeks to extract just the right amount of tannins. We then pressed the wine into 90% French oak and 10% American oak barrels (30% new oak) where it matured for 14 months. The final blend is 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Merlot.

IN THE VINEYARD

This is a single vineyard wine with all grapes grown at our Dakins Road Block and picked from a very stony band running through the block where the vines have lower vigour and optimal ripeness is achieved. We harvested all the fruit by hand to ensure soft handling and top quality.