Ridgeback Journey 2006

• Merlot was harvested on 8 February, Cabernet Sauvignon on 17 March and Cabernet Franc on 8 March 2006.
• The above components were kept separate until blending just prior to bottling.
  

	Merlot	Cabernet Franc	Cabernet Sauvignon
Sugar	25º Balling	24.5º Balling	23.8º Balling
Acid	5.0g/l	5.1g/l	5.21g/l
pH	3.85	3.8	3.78

• All of the above were destemmed without crushing. Wholeberry component was 80% in the open stainless steel fermenters.
• Must was inoculated with commercial yeast strains best suited to the varieties.
• Pump overs were given twice to three times daily to extract colour, tannin and flavour.
• Fermentation lasted for 10 days on Cabernet Franc at 27° - 29° C and 8 days on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon at 26° C - 28° C.
• Wine was gently pressed and free run was consolidated with press fractions.
• The wine was gravity fed to first, second and third fill French casks for secondary malo-lactic fermentation.
• The wine matured in 225 litre casks for 17 months.
• The selected casks for all three varieties were assembled in the blend prior to filtration and bottling.