Smidge Wines

Tasting Notes

Aromas of stone fruits, floral spice and subtle green apples with a mouthful of fresh stone fruits and underlying talc, balanced by a refreshing thread of acidity.

Cellaring

Recognising this variety is not known for its aging capabilities, this wine was made with a slightly more austere in style at the time of bottling allowing the Viognier ‘gras’ to come through later, giving this wine a slightly more than just short term aging potential. It is subsequently recommended that the 2004 Smidge Viognier be drunk in the next 4 years.

Viticulture

This fruit is grown from 5 year old vines, in a single vineyard at Kenton Valley, in the northern end of the Adelaide Hills. The vines are planted in clay / loamy soils and the vineyard also has a moderately steep north westerly aspect, resulting in good afternoon sun exposure.

Vinification & Maturation

The fruit was hand picked and then whole bunch pressed, with both the free run and the pressings settled for 2 hours and then racked separately to old French barriques where the juice was then inoculated with one of three different Rhône yeast isolates. Average fermentation temperature was 15oC. Post fermentation, the barrels were topped and the wine remained on yeast lees with some stirring until being racked prior to bottling. Some malolactic fermentation was detected during maturation and allowed to proceed, but the extent was assessed as minimal. Following sterile filtration the wine was bottled in October 2004.

Technical Analysis

Harvested - April 2004
Bottled - October 2004
Alcohol - 13.5 %