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d'Arenberg Grenache The Custodian 2008
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Juicy and bright with varietal characters of ripe, fresh raspberry and cherry filling a lush aroma with a hint of spice and a floral touch of pot pourri adding inviting nuances.
The palate is similarly juicy and plush with plenty of red fruits initially before a more subtle wave of cinnamon stick and five spice with a kiss of purple flowers in the background.
The velvety tannins, lively acidity and juicy varietal fruits are all in balance and make for a harmo-nious wine drinking well on release. Owing to the vintage this wine is a ripe example of The Custodian and is expected to be at its best between 2010 and 2018.
2008 is a tale of two vintages for red wines in McLaren Vale.
Winter rain ensured the soil reached filled capacity and set the vines up perfectly with healthy balanced canopies.
A normal spring and an unseasona-bly cool January and February meant most vines remained stress free and flavour ripeness was achieved at reasonably low sugar levels and high natural acidity.
A sustained heat wave in early March required a lot of fruit to be picked quickly. Grenache fared well in the intense conditions, retaining good acidity and balanced ripe characters.
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 and large casks. Here it completes primary and secondary fer-mentation. The barrel fermented components are ma-tured on lees to slow aging and keep the wine fresher 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 Custodian does not undertake fining or filtration prior to bottling.
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| Don't Pay: $19.99
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WBW Rating: 91/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: McLaren Vale SA |
Winemaker: Chester d’Arenberg Osborn
Drink now until: 2016
Alc/Vol: 14.5 %
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