in the cellar : Grapes were destalked, crushed and pressed off to a settling tank where the juice was allowed to settle at 10°C for 48 hours. Thereafter, the clear juice was racked off the settled lees directly into French 228 lit barriques. Here, 90% of the barrels were individually inoculated with either DV 10 or Vin 13 commercial yeast strains with spontaneous fermentation allowed in the remaining 10%.
Fermentation temperatures peaked at 26°C. On completion of fermentation, the wine was barrel aged for a further 10 months during which time 30% of the barrels completed MLF. The remaining barrels were prevented from undergoing MLF. This winemaking technique is employed in order to ensure a lively, zesty acidity in the finished wine. Gentle fortnightly battonage was undertaken throughout the maturation period before the wine was finally bottled in mid-November 2011.