Winery & Vintage Info
During the vine pull scheme in the 80's, d'Arry Osborn refused to remove his old Grenache vineyards. Today d'Arenberg is the keeper of nearly one third of McLaren Vale's old bush vine Grenache, earning the title of 'Custodian' of the variety.
Winter and Spring rains were quite good which meant vigour was high. October and November saw some cooler weather which made flowering and set spread out over a long period with an intense short heat wave in the middle of set reducing the crop significantly. A nice rain on the 1st of February set the vines up well and mild to cool, dry, weather prevailed. A few slightly warmer nights in the later part of ripening helped the last sugar push. Yields were down significantly, the lowest in memory, however, quality is exceptional. Some of the best wines seen for years. Great colour, fruit characters, flavours and length.
Small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to open fermenters. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation, the wine is basket pressed and transferred to old French oak to complete fermentation and mature. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, and there is no racking until final blending. This wine does not undertake fining or filtration prior to bottling.
