Winemakers:
Stewart Maclennan and Hamish Clark
Winemaking:
Grapes were de-stemmed into small stainless steel fermenters for a five-day cold soak to help maximise flavour and colour extraction. Following the addition of specially selected yeast the fermenting wine was hand plunged and pumped over to gently extract flavour, colour and tannin. Once primary fermentation was completed the young wine was kept in contact with skins and tasted daily until the right extraction and balance was achieved. The next step was to gently press the wine off its skins, leaving it to settle, then racking to 33 per cent new French oak where it underwent secondary fermentation (malolactic fermentation). After ageing on light lees the wine was blended, balanced and carefully prepared for bottling
Viticulture:
The fruit was harvested from Saint Clair’s naturally low cropping Rapaura Road vineyard. The fruit was carefully monitored as it ripened to full maturity and harvested at the beginning of April.
