Cranberries, wood spice, rose, orange zest and bramble on the nose. The palate is juicy, with the iron-rich gaminess and spice of cured meats adding intensity and depth to red and black berries, dark chocolate and maraschino cherries. Dry, pithy tannins and a lively acidity bring structure and augur well for ageing.

Gentle and minimum intervention with a ‘hands-off’ approach to reflect the terroir of Botrivier. After hand picking in the early morning, bunches were destemmed into small fermenting tanks keeping 30% whole clusters. I allowed four days of cold soaking on skins for flavour to develop before a natural fermentation started. Punch downs were done by hand, twice a day, resulting in gentle extraction, preserving the grape’s natural character. An additional post-fermentation maceration of 10 days was allowed to extract the finer, softer tannins. After a total of 4 weeks on the skins, grapes were gently pressed with an old basket press into older French oak 225 L barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation. Total time in barrel: 16 months. No fining. Bottled in April 2025.

ANALYSIS: Alc 13.89% | RS 1.5 g/l | TA 5.0 g/l | pH 3.50