Home / Portfolio / Hastwell & Lightfoot / Tempranillo
Tempranillo - 2008
Tasting Note: 100% McLaren Vale fruit - Estate grown
COLOUR: Intensely dark ruby red with vivid violet hues.
AROMA: Lifted fresh fruity aromas of black cherry and spicy herbs.
PALATE: Spicy cherry fruit flavours with a very rich mid palate mouth feel and drying tannins finish. The use of old barriques has preserved the distinct varietal fruit characteristics of this wine. A powerful fruit driven style.
| Wine Background | |
| Vineyard site | The top of the north side hills of McLaren Vale. Short rows running down from the top of the ridge. The profile is very deep sand. The site is protected from hot north winds by an old pine forest capping the hill. |
| Planted | 2000. 3 acres on rootstocks to promote vine vigour. |
| Trellis | Single cordon with catching wire to lift the canopy. |
| Irrigation | Drip @ 9 litres a vine every 3 days. |
| Season | A good growing season leading up to harvest but turned into a picking panic by a heat-wave that ran for over 2 weeks starting in early February. Being a robust late ripening variety saved the Tempranillo from the crisis. |
| Harvest | Picked March 5. 13.7 Be. 3.5 tonne to the acre. |
| Winemaking | Fermented in 2 tonne open fermenters with heading down boards and pump overs. Temperature controlled to 18 to 22 degrees. Ferment period 9 days. Pressed out with a basket press. |
| Maturation | This was over a 18 month period in 3, 4 and 5 year old American barriques, no new wood, to ensure fruit flavours were retained. |
| Bottled | November 25 2009 Alc. 14.7. pH 3.63. TA 6.5 |