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Tasting Notes

Colour and condition: Pale to medium straw, some green tints; bright condition.

Nose: Vibrant nose with lifted primary fruits.  Initial gooseberry and leafy notes, sitting above lemon sherbet, grapefruit and figs.

Palate: Medium to full bodied, with fresh acidity; appealing zesty gooseberry and lemon fruit flavours, some fig and honey richness as well; clean finish.

Vintage Notes

Having provided commentary of the 2014 vintage with the Moss Wood Semillon, we won’t repeat it again here, other than to note the features that made it a quality year for Semillon at Moss Wood were also ideal for the Ribbon Vale whites.

Similarly, both the Sauvignon and Semillon were well down with their yields.  Sauvignon Blanc was down 12%, at 9.89 tonnes per hectare and Semillon was down 48%, at 5.64 tonnes per hectare.

For both varieties, the lower yields led to faster ripening, with Sauvignon Blanc taking 91 days to go from flowering to harvest, 10 days less than usual.  Semillon took 104 days, which is 8 days fewer.

There were no quality problems from either disease or birds, although we did have the odd kangaroo hopping around, developing a taste for ripe grapes.  Fortunately we remembered to start closing the gate on the roo-proof fence and the problem was resolved!

Production Notes

Median Harvest Dates:

Sauvignon Blanc – 13^th February, 2014

Semillon – 6^th March, 2014

Harvest Ripeness:

Sauvignon Blanc – 11.4⁰ Baume

Semillon – 13.7⁰ Baume

Both varieties were hand picked and delivered immediately for processing in the winery.  There they were de-stemmed, crushed, chilled and transferred to the press.  The juice was then pumped to stainless steel tank, where it was settled for 48 hours, after which the clear juice was racked to a second tank and seeded with pure yeast culture for primary fermentation.  Both batches fermented at 18⁰C.

Once primary ferment was completed the two batches were blended and then racked into 225 litre French oak barrels.  None of the barrels were new because it was not our intention for the wine to pick up wood characters.  Rather, the development that takes place in cask improves the texture of the wine.

After 6 months, the wine was racked into stainless steel and all barrels were blended.  The wine was then prepared for bottling and fined only with bentonite.  It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 7^th October, 2014.

Cellaring Notes

With such bright fruit characters, this wine is ideal for drinking now, or over the next 2 years.  After this it will become more complex, develop some toasty bottle bouquet and should reach full complexity around 5 to 7 years of age.