Vintage

Heavier than normal winter rains and cooler temperatures delayed budburst (our second latest) but warmer spring weather resulted in perfect conditions for flowering leading to very good fruit set and promising high yields. In fact, particularly down the hill, crop adjustment was required to ensure even maturity and high quality outcomes. Grapes matured with optimum sugar, flavour and tannin development resulting in high quality parcels from all sites. It was our third earliest harvest, leading to our shortest ever hang time (budburst-harvest 179 days against an average of 203 days).

Vineyards :: Clones

Judd (100%) :: F14V9 (68%), H5V10 (32%)

Harvest date :: Yield

Hand picked 22 March 2018 :: 7.6 tonnes/ha (3.1 t/acre, ~45.6hl/ha)

Brix :: pH :: TA

21.6° (12.0° Baumé) :: 3.21 :: 9.6 g/l

Winemaking

Grapes hand-harvested late March, whole bunch pressed and the unsettled juice fermented by indigenous yeasts in old 228 litre French oak barrels. A 7 month aging in barrel with no bâtonnage to keep wines fresher and more taut. Natural partial (49%) malolactic fermentation before bottling unfined and filtered.

Winemakers

Sandro Mosele, Martin Spedding

Aging :: Oak

7 months :: old 228 litre French oak barrels

Malolactic

Partial (49%)

Residual sugar

Dry (<0.5 g/l)

Finished pH :: TA

3.10 :: 7.1 g/l

Alcohol

13.0% (7.7 standard drinks/750ml bottle)

Production

629 dozen :: bottled 30 October 2018 :: screwcap

Release date

April 2019

TASTING NOTES

Sauvignon Blanc, but not as you know it. The story here is about texture and complexity rather than gooseberry and passionfruit, with hints of pear and lemon curd over a palate that trades on texture and tang, the acid a cleansing background force. Sophisticated, and subtly powerful modern Sauvignon Blanc that grows in the glass.

Andrew Graham [March 2019, commissioned by TMBT]

Food :: Temperature

Grilled barramundi with lemongrass:: serve at 6–9°C

Best drinking

2019-2024