Bold & Full-bodied Red Wines

Bordeaux Varieties with a Pedigree of Place Captured

When red wine grapes arrive at the winery, the grapes are separated from their stems in a machine called a destemmer, and then directed to a stainless steel fermenting tank. The skins, seeds, pulp and juice all ferment together, the juice gaining all of its color and much of its character from the skins. The fermentation temperatures are kept warm to facilitate flavor and color extraction, and the tanks are pumped over twice daily to further enhance this process. Within a couple of weeks, the primary fermentation is complete, and the wines are drained and gently pressed off their skins and seeds. The wines are then sent to small barrels, where secondary malo-lactic fermentation will be encouraged in every barrel.

BLENDING & AGING

BARREL AGING FOR COMPLEXITY, CONCENTRATION & GRACE

Throughout every wine’s time at the winery, it is constantly under assessment by the winemaking team. Even the lightest and freshest styles of white wine benefit from at least some aging time, and wines chosen to be barrel aged soften, concentrate, and can pick up a broad array of complexity depending on the age, toast level, wood source, and barrel maker. As each lot ages, the winemakers systematically taste every tank and barrel to evaluate the wine’s progress. It is then up to the winemaking team to assemble the lots into harmonious unity, anything from combining different varieties, blending one variety from within an appellation, or highlighting a single vineyard from lots representing just one or two specific vineyard blocks. This is done entirely by taste, and represents the culmination of innate ability and years of winemaking experience.