With the vineyard demanding my full attention, only the rainy days are for winery work. All wines from 2020 vintage have now finished natural malolactic fermentation and I am racking each barrel, once only. Then, all wines will mature for a few more month or years in these barrels, the wine's élevage, until the flavours are perfectly integrated and the wine matured so far, that it’s time to bottle.
This is the case for the vintage 2018! The next few weeks will see me busy bottling its wines except a few which I will hold back. The wines from 2018, one of the warmest summers we experienced, brought us true treasures. Extremely balanced wines with beautiful fruit expression. I can’t wait to raise a glass of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Saperavi 2018, Mistral 2017, Montepulciano 2016 and Spirit of Marlborough 2015 with you!
*Racking - the process of moving the wine to another barrel with the purpose of leaving behind the settled sediment and rough lees at the bottom of the barrel.
*Elevage - the “bringing up” or “raising” of a wine from its raw state immediately post-alcoholic fermentation to the point where it can be bottled.