Growing Conditions
A warm, consistent season with plenty of sun. Fantastic, balmy conditions during the harvest, giving us grapes at peak maturity which have produced a wine with a high alcohol content. The 2009 is simply delicious, with a remarkable aromatic power.
SOIL:
• Gravelly and clay-limestone soil
• Plot-by-plot management with integrated drainage system
Harvest
Harvest:
- Merlot: 1st-10th October
- Cabernet Sauvignon: 12th - 20th October
- Petit Verdot: 18th October
Yield:
- 48 hectolitres/ha
- 65% 1st wine
• 100% manual in small boxes, with bunch selection on the vine
• Double sorting in the winery (bunches and grapes), using vibrating sorting tables
Bottling
18th & 19th May 2011
Winemaking
• 100-hectolitre thermo-regulated stainless steel vats
• No grapes treading
• Cold maceration (8°C) for 3-5 days before fermentation
• Alcoholic fermentation at 25°C, then 28°C to finish
• Small volumes pumped over three times daily
• Warm maceration after fermentation (30°C), until ready for transfer to the barrels
• The contents of each vat are transferred to barrels after tasting. Pressing using a JLB vertical press.
• Malolactic fermentation: one third in brand new French oak barrels, the rest in stainless steel vats
Aging
100% in French oak barrels: 40% new, 40% used once, 20% used twice. Matured for 12 - 15 months