in the vineyard : The vineyards (viticulturist: Eben Archer):
Planted in 1995, these young bush-vines showed their potential with the 2000 vintage, and have surpassed even that wine with the 2001 vintage. The vineyard lies on a relatively flat slope with the rows orientated from north to south. The medium-potential soil originates from decomposed granite and the vines received an overhead, supplementary irrigation at the time of veraison. Being bush vines, the yield balanced out at 7,8 tonnes per hectare – perhaps slightly lower that could be expected but with excellent concentration and health.
in the cellar : After destalking and crushing, the mash was transferred to closed stainless steel tanks where fermentation was induced by the addition of pure yeast strains of NT50 and N96. Fermentation took place at between 28º and 30º C with a light pneumatic pressing taking place just prior to the completion of fermentation.
Half of the wine completed fermentation in stainless steel tanks while the other half was transferred to Oak barrels where the fermentation was completed. Barrel maturation time averaged out at 16 months with the barrel selections being as follows:
•44% New French Oak, 33% new American Oak, 5% new Hungarian Oak and 18% second fill barrels consisting of,
•65% French Oak, 30% American Oak and 5% Russian Oak.