Vineyard Notes
The 2012 Moose is a showcase for the Syrah from our Estate vineyard. In this case it is the 2.65 acre block 8 clone 99 Syrah planted in 2002. This block is planted on an extremely steep section of our estate, thus the limestone is exposed with almost no top soil. The resulting fruit is a prime example of what farming on high pH (9.2) soils can produce. We blended the Estate Syrah with Petit Verdot from the Live Oak Vineyard, in the cooler Templeton Gap region, which helped to increase the desired tannic weight and structure elements of the varietal.
Winemaker Notes
The Syrah for the 2012 Moose was de-stemmed and fermented in 2.5 ton open top stainless tanks. The tank was cold soaked for 3 days before onset of primary fermentation. A routine of 3 daily punch downs combined with a 3 hour delestage every other day followed, for a total of 27 days on skins. The fruit was gently pressed and 25% racked into a new French Meyrieux barrels which are known for their intense toasting and readily compliments a rich nose and complex finish. Another 20% was racked into new Cavin French barrels with medium toasting to help add structural elements to the mid palate. The remaining 55% went into once used French and Hungarian cooperage. Upon completion of secondary fermentation, the wine was racked and combined with the Petit Verdot. The Petit Verdot was fermented in 1.5 ton open top tanks with a combination of punch downs and delestage. The finalized blend was returned to barrel and aged for a total of 28 months before bottling.
