Hand-picked from specific small sections of our old dry grown vines. Chilled, hand sorted at the winery and destemmed into open fermenters. Cold soak for several days before primary fermentation. The fermenters were pumped over with aeration twice a day or hand plunged depending on taste and ferment stage. The wine was then pressed to French oak hogsheads (~25% new) once primary was complete for its Malo-lactic fermentation. The wine was blended and bottled after 15 months maturation in oak.
Technical Notes
Technical Notes
VINEYARD
Forest Hill Vineyard, Block 5, 6 and 7, all Planted 1975, all of which is Houghton Clone.
GROWING AREA & SOILS
Forest Hill, Mount Barker in the Great Southern. Gravel, loams over clay.
FARMING
Dry Grown. Row orientation is North-South. Farmed meticulously, shoot thinning and positioning with crop load managed for low yields.
HARVEST
7th April to 10th April 2021
TECHNICAL
pH: 3.56, TA: 6.08 g/L, Alcohol: 14%
Vintage Notes
Vintage Notes
The 2021 growing season began with another dry start to winter followed by a welcome wet spring which set the vines well for summer. Some minor frost in early budburst varietals but generally a favorable spring with good fruit set. The La Nina weather pattern lead to some significant rainfall including in early February, refreshing the canopies and luckily early enough not to create disease or bunch damage. Slow and relatively mild start to the season, with rainfall in March and early April. Warm March weather with cool nights was perfectly timed for our red varietals.
