Our Orange labelled red blend allows us the opportunity to showcase the varietal diversity that the Orange wine region can produce.

An ever-changing and evolving blend, each year we have the luxury of choosing our own combination of traditional Bordeaux varieties according to what the season best produces. Each variety brings its own strengths to the blend and the challenge is to marry them together harmoniously and produce the most complete wine possible.

The 2022 season was another long, cool season which brought lovely physiological ripeness to the fruit, along with great acid retention and colour. We selected parcels of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc all grown from approx. 850m ASL in the Orange region. This trio combine extremely well together as they strengthen each other. They have many similarities but also many of their own individual attributes which add multiple layers to the resulting wine. The Cabernet Franc portion brings perfume and raspberries and chocolate along with fine tannin structure. Merlot brings mid palate juiciness and a round softness to the mouthfeel. Malbec then brings dark fruits, length and a strong acid backbone.

Winemaking Notes:

• Cabernet Franc (43%) Harvested 19^th April 2022 by hand into 10kg lugs.
• Merlot (38%) Harvested 23^rd April 2022 by hand into 10kg lugs.
• Malbec (19%) Harvested 23^rd April 2022 by hand into 10kg lugs.
• Destemmed separately as whole berries into open 1T fermenters.
• A mixture of native and cultured yeasts employed for fermentation over an average of 20 days. Plunging by hand 2 times per day.
• Pressed to tank, settled for a week then racked to French oak barriques (22% new)
• Wild malolactic fermentation in barrel.
• Elevage in oak for 17 months.
• Blended then allowed to settle in stainless steel tank for 6 months.
• Racked to bottle with no fining or filtration.