2009 Vintage
Region: Mclaren Vale
Grape Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Viticultural Notes: Our vineyard, Viña Cascabel, is only 3 km from the sea, at the Southern end of McLaren Vale in South Australia. Strong winds from the hills behind us appear almost every afternoon during Spring and Summer; they minimize diseases and cool us at night. The vineyard is dry grown, on a Stony Loam soil, which is very well drained. It has reddish gravely clay with plenty of medium size stones throughout. The trellis system is low (with the traditional single wire) and vines are spur pruned (by hand), to allow good airflow while reducing the need for spraying (only powder sulphur is needed, sporadically. for the prevention of Powdery Mildew). The vineyard is well established and in balance, cropping between 2.2 to 4.5 tonnes per hectare.
Winemaker's Notes: The grapes are from our dry grown vineyard and were all hand picked at 13.9º Bè in early March 2008. Fermented in 1.5 ton stainless steel open fermenters, with some whole bunches and regular hand plunging. The ferment was allowed to reach up to 30º C. Macerated on skins for 3 weeks after fermentation. Post ferment, the wine was pressed straight into barrel where malolactic fermentation occurred spontaneously. The wine was removed from barrel after 15 months, blended and allowed to settle in tank naturally. Bottling, in July 2009, was by gravity filling to screw cap closures, followed by labeled and packing, with all steps carried out by us with our own equipment. We consider this essential to give each wine individuality and to keep full control over the quality.
Tasting Notes: El Sendero (the path, in Spanish) is a wine made with the Tempranillo grapes that grow along our garden path and display very distinctive varietal characters. Rich textured with concentrated flavours, rounded body, firm tannins and suited to medium to long-term ageing. Colour: radiant, dark ruby. Nose: intense bouquet of chocolate and black berries. Palate: layers of rich berry fruit, with a touch of cedar, and a spicy long finish.
Technical Notes:
Alcohol: 14 %
Yield (tonnes per hectare): 3.2 t
Cases produced: 250 dozen.
Filtration and fining: None.
Wood treatment: French oak Puncheons (500 L) 40% new, with the remaining 2 and 3 year old and a small portion of American oak.
Length of barrel maturation: 15 months.
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