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d'Arenberg Derelict Vineyard Grenache 2009
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"94 POINTS. A darker and more savoury example of Grenache from the stable, with leather, black fruits, thyme and black olive; the palate delivers assertive acidity and fine tannins, and the finish is long and expansive." - James Halliday.
The nose is an inviting swirl of flowers, spice, earth and red fruits including strawberries and freshly-picked mulberries. This is serious stuff, layered, lifted and complex.
The palate is a textural wonderland, slippery graphite then grainy, gritty fruit tannin flows into earthy grip betraying its old-vine concentration. All the while the ripe red fruits dance about, keeping everything fresh and zingy.
This is an intense, structured Grenache worthy of ageing to build upon its already complex character. Decanting prior to serving will allow this wine to open, cellaring over the next 10 to 15 years will reward the patient.
Sufficient winter rains ensured good sub soil moisture and set up the vines well with healthy canopies. Early Summer was very cool with only three days above 30°C until late in January.
There was a string of days above 40°C in late January which caused some loss of yield of the final crop.
The mild weather that followed ensured that ripening was stress free and grapes showed good levels of natural acidity and balanced tannins. Grenache was one of the stand out varieties from this vintage.
Walking the vineyard rows and tasting grapes, Chester Osborn classifies and determines the ideal picking time for each
individual vineyard.
Small batches are crushed in the Demoisy open-mouthed, rubber toothed crusher and then transferred to five-tonne headed-down open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final
blending.
Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation. When tannin extraction is just right the wine is
basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of new and old French and old American oak barriques to complete primary and secondary fermentation. The barrel fermented component is aged on lees to keep the wine fresh while also reducing the oak influence. There is no racking until final blending.
Chester and the winemaking team undertake an extensive barrel tasting process to determine the final blend. The Derelict Vineyard does not undertake fining or filtration prior to bottling.
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| Don't Pay: $30
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WBW Rating: 94/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: McLaren Vale SA |
Winemaker: Chester d’Arenberg Osborn
Drink now until: 2020
Alc/Vol: 14.5 %
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