Wine Note

Our Merlot grapes were harvested from the gravelly soils on our Gimblett Road vineyard.  The wine displays elegant, ripe berryfruit and subtle complex oak, nuances of chocolate, licorice and spice compliment the silky tannin finish.  This wine will reward cellaring.

Alcohol Content

13.1%

Harvest

The fruit was harvested at optimum ripeness after a prolonged ripening period during ceraison.  Individual batches were harvested by hand and processed separately.

Vinification

The grapes were softly destemed and crushed into fermentation vessels.  All batches were inoculated with yeast and fermented on skins between 7 - 15 days.  Some batches were racked to barrels and completed fermentation in wood.  The caps were irrigated 3 times a day and fermentation temperature peaked at 28c.  Most of the pressings were added back to the drained wine and were inoculated for malo-lactic fermentation.  The wine was matured in oak for 20 months.  The wine was racked four times and returned to barrels.  Prior to bottling the wine was lightly fined with eggwhite.

Composition

100% Gimblett Road Merlot

Barrel Percentage

The wine was matured in a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 20 months.

Bottling

The wine was bottled on the 11 February 2002.

Sensory

Colour:  Deep plum in colour with ruby hue. 
Aroma:  Intense aroma of black plums and dark chocolate with complex smokey/spicey characters. 
Palate:  Rich and full-bodied.  Sweet berry fruit and cedary oak are enhanced by the soft but firm tannins in the mid palate, which leads to a dry lingering finish.

Cellaring

5 - 8 years.