Even Keel /
2024 Even Keel Alicante Bouschet / Touriga Nacional
REGION
Mornington Peninsula
TASTING
The fruit is a blend of Alicante from our vineyard in Stanleys Road, Merricks and a small parcel of Touriga from our grower in Heathcote. This blend looks to Southern Portugal’s coastal blends. Unashamedly a food wine, it drinks best with grilled seafood and secondary cuts of meat (Asado-style). A heady nose of black cherry, faint tobacco, biltong and musk aromatics with an earthy sweet beetroot. The palate enjoys flavours of blackcurrant, plum and earthy beetroot. Minerality and coolness meets with fresh black fruits and an earthiness that adds a savoury edge.
WINEMAKING
The fruit is handpicked across multiple vineyards and blocks and destemmed into 2 ton open fermenters as whole berries and left to start fermenting naturally. It is not touched until a 2-3° drop in baumé, which allows fermentation to occur inside the grape berry and increases the aromatics of the finished wine. Once fermentation starts strongly, the ferment is hand plunged 2-3 times per day for 15 days. The wine is left on skins for post ferment maturation for up to 15 days, then pressed off skins and racked to barrel. Seasoned oak is used, then it is racked and returned to barrel in the summer. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration in the autumn of the following year, giving it a total of 10 months in oak.
VINEYARD
Planted in 2020, situated in Merricks at 90 metres above sea level. Comprises two blocks: a north facing block and west facing. The North-facing block is a high-density vineyard – with about 8800 vines per hectare, vine rows facing north and south, vines spacings are 0.5 x 1.5metres. It’s all VSP, single cane wrap down. Planted to Chardonnay (95, 96, 277 clones) then as you go down the hill Chardonnay (667 clone, MV6, Pommard and Abel) – these are on different rootstocks too as we are trying to grow multiple parcels of fruit to build complexity. Travelling further down the hill there is Gamay, Cabernet Franc. The West-facing block is what Sam has nicknamed our Climate Change Proofing block. This is planted to more conventional density with vines spaced 2.5 x 0.75 metres. This is planted to Chenin Blanc, Alicante Bouschet, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Zweigelt, Trousseau, some different parcels of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Shiraz and some Viognier. At the moment all red varieties are blended and create the rose, the Chenin Blanc is separately, the Chardonnay and Gris go into the Estate wines.
VITICULTURE
We purchase our fruit from the vineyards, in partnership with growers, however, we do use our own fruit from young vines. We grow, make and farm our vineyards using a philosophy of sustainability and regenerative agriculture, applying a mix of biological, bio-dynamic and organic practices.
REVIEW
PRICE
$35 RRP/ $33.25 Case of 12
| Title | Range | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| Case discount | 12 - 999 | 5% |