PARITUA 21:12 2013

PARITUA 21:12 2013 RED

A complex aroma of sweet black plum, blackcurrant and cassis, with clove and star anise aromas and a hint of violet. The palate has great structure and intensity of flavour. A silky attack with concentrated black currant and spicy plum flavours some liquorice and mineral elegance with a long flavored fine grained tannin finish.

 Red meats, hearty roasted game, and rich mushroom dishes.

viticulture

Sub blocks are selected at our Maraekakaho vineyard to grow low yielding crops. Management for our high tier wines starts with pruning. The vines are manicured from then onwards, with crop thinning to one bunch per cane and a manual leaf-pluck during veraison. The canopy is kept open to provide for airflow and sun exposure. At optimum ripeness we hand harvest selected rows.

winemaking

Whole bunches are de-stemmed and the berries are then hand sorted then crushed to a closed fermenter. After a period of cold soak we inoculate with preferred yeast. Temperatures are then managed to reach about 30°C. Once the ferment is dry the wine is tasted to evaluate maceration time, and finally basket pressed to barrel. Malo-lactic conversion takes place in barrel in temperature controlled rooms. We aim for about 60% new French oak barriques. Trial blending takes place several times over the maturation period, with final blending prior to bottling. The wine is bottled after a light egg white fining and filtration.