Fermentation and Maturation for Whalebone Vineyard

Fermentation

The bunches are destemmed and only a portion of the liberated berries are crushed between slightly separated rollers. The berries and juice are transferred to 1 tonne tubs at 5ºC where they macerate anaerobically for 3 days before the fermentation is initiated. A small quantity of my own vineyard-selected yeast is added to each tub and the fermentation begins.

The rising cap of skins is hand plunged and mixed with the fermenting juice twice per day. The cap of skins achieves temperatures of 30ºC between plungings over the first week of the fermentation. In the second week of fermentation the temperature decreases but the plungings continue until all of the sugar is exhausted.

At dryness the tub is sealed anaerobically and in the third week the cap sinks beneath the wine surface. After 24 days in the tub, the clear wine is drained away from the skins and the wet skins are gently pressed in a small air bag press. Light pressings are added back to the drained wine to the extent dictated by taste.

Maturation

The turbid freshly separated wine is immediately drained to 70% new and 30% one use French oak barriques from the Alliers and Nevers forests of the "Centre of France".

A tiny quantity of my own selected malolactic bacteria is added to each barrique and the separate varietal components of Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard are allowed to complete the malo-lactic fermentation on full lees in barrique.

At completion of malo-lactic the wines are removed from barrique, a small amount of sulphur dioxide is added and the wine, complete with lees, is returned to barrique. The wines are clear racked from barrique each 6 months and returned so that after 18 months the wine is clear.