From the Vineyard
Winemaking
The grapes are fermented in stainless-steel tanks with automated 'pumping-over' to extract the maximum colour and structure from the skins. During this process the fermenting wine is regularly pumped from the bottom of the tank over and through the floating skins, keeping them cool and moist. Fermentation temperatures are kept below 24 degrees Celsius to maximise fruit aromas. The primary fermentation takes approximately two weeks to finish. During this time the selected yeasts convert the fruit sugars to alcohol, and produce a wonderful array of flavours and aromas. The newly created wine is then left in contact with the skins for a further three weeks. This improves the wine's structure and adds complexity to the flavours.
The wine is gently separated from the skins using an airbag press and transferred to storage tanks. The yeast lees slowly settle out of suspension. The clear wine is then transferred to new and used American and French oak barrels for maturation. The wine is transferred back to tanks for settling, and then undergoes a coarse filtering prior to bottling. The wines are not treated by fining with fish, egg or nut products, or by fine filtration, and thus retain all their natural tannins and flavours. Further complexity will develop with cellaring.
