Willunga 100, McLaren Vale Tempranillo 2014
PL Award 1: SILVER - SWA 2015
Country: Australia Region: South Australia Vintage: 2014
Category: Red Wine Colour: Red
Producer: Willunga 100
"Willunga 100’s focus is very much on premium Grenache. Its success last year when the 2014 The Hundred won the Grenache Trophy at the McLaren Vale wine show vindicated this focus, which has been driven by winemaker Mike Farmilo (who has almost 40 years of experience working in McLaren Vale) and consultant Tim James. Mike and Tim spend a lot of time working with the growers to ensure the quality of fruit is up to their exacting standards.
The soils in McLaren Vale are some of the oldest in the world, estimated at over 500 million years old. This means low vigour, ensuring low yields in the vineyard, so combined with the old vines, stunning fruit is produced. At the outset in 2004, Willunga 100 planned to focus on Cabernet/Shiraz and Shiraz/Viognier. However, the McLaren Vale vineyards also contained plots of 50 year old Grenache and it was these gnarled, low yielding vines which produced wonderful fruit that proved too good to simply blend away. The 2014 Grenache is a perfumed and spicy expression of the variety. The 2015 Grenache Rose is crisp, dry and very food-friendly. The 2013 'Tithing', a selection of the best Grenache from an old vineyard, is simply outstanding: complex, rich and opulent. The 2014 ‘The Hundred’, from a single vineyard of 80+ year-old bush vines in Blewitt Springs, is tank fermented and lees aged, and expresses the wonderful aromatics of this variety.
All the wines in the Willunga 100 range continue to be recognised for their consistency and quality. This was reflected at the Australian Wine Shows in 2015, where all the 2014 red wines won a gold medal or a trophy."
Product Features: Vegan;Vegetarian
Winemaker: Mike Farmilo
Vineyards:
Not unlike the Rioja, McLaren Vale has a Mediterranean like climate dominated by warm days and cooler nights from the sea breeze influence of the nearby Gulf of St Vincent. Tempranillo is a relatively new variety in the region, fruit for this wine comes from the Bayliss road vineyard which has some of the oldest Tempranillo vines, planted 15 years ago, on sandy soils.
Vinification:
The Tempranillo was harvested in March, de-stemmed, crushed and fermented in an open-top fermenter. Warm fermentation temperatures combined with regular pumpovers to start with, and then plunging as fermentation slowed, ensured a balance of tannin extraction whilst still maintaining the desired delicate lifted aromatics and depth of fruit. A portion of the wine was then matured in older French oak to add balance and complexity, but not override the lifted spiciness desired from this variety.
Tasting Notes:
Aromatics of black cherry, sweet plum and hints of all spice are evident, whilst the palate is a little more serious with blackberries, spice and an earthiness that gives the wine a savoury note. The tannins are persistent and promote great length, backed up by a balanced acid structure.
Food Suggestion: Perfect with roasted lamb, stuffed peppers or hard cheese like Manchego made from sheep's milk.
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Closure:Stelvin ABV: 14% Acidity [g/l]: 6.8
