Smidge Wines

Tasting Notes

Although picked at slightly lower baumé than anticipated, this wine is more elegant than its older brother from 2002. The flavours and characters of the 2003, once again reflect the uniqueness of Zinfandel. Coloured ruby red with notes of red fruit, subtle fruitcake and spice and a subtle palate of ripe red fruit, pepper, French oak, balanced by overall fruit richness and “sweetness”.

Cellaring

Personally I feel that Zinfandel is very interesting variety when it comes to ageing. After a few years in the bottle, the fragrant fruitcake and spice subside slowly and while the wines still drink well, the characters evolve transforming the wine into complex attractive dry red.

Viticulture

Grown on sandy loams over limestone adjacent to a flood plain of the Bremer River in Langhorne creek, the vines are allowed to sprawl, but require careful irrigation management. After extensive crop thinning, the vines became balanced and even. After some unexpected summer / autumn rains, some botrytis was evident and thankfully for the handpicking these bunches were avoided.

Vinification & Maturation

The fruit was picked ripe, but may have benefited by hanging for another week, but the botrytis infection played a part in the time of harvest. The fruit was de-stemmed and ~20% of the juice was saigneed, with the balance of the fruit being fermented steadily, but not quickly. After a total of 12 days on skins, the free run was drained and the skins pressed to the tank of free run. After 24 hours, the wine was racked to 3-4 year old French barriques for 10 months, during which time the wine went through malolactic fermentation and was racked once.

Technical Analysis

Harvested -April 2003
Bottled - March 2004
Alcohol - 14.0%