Wines
NV RIKARD Cuveé
A blend of Chardonnay (70%) and Pinot Noir (30%), made with minimal intervention in a rich and complex interpretation of the traditional style. The wine comprises components from the 2018 vintage with 30% of our aged, Pinot Noir dominant base wine.
12 months in old French barriques and en tirage for over six years, it shows savoury, brioche and nutty lees-derived characters in balance with lively acidity and a textural mouthfeel.
560 in stock
Description
Our second release of Cuveé, a non-vintage utilising two different Chardonnay portions from the 2018 vintage and complexing them with approximately 30% museum, solera base wine. At this point in time, the solera was made up of some of the 2016 cuvee and approximately 75% Mariafeld clone Pinot Noir from 2017.
The base wines all had 10 to 12 months in old French Oak barriques for fermentation, with periodic batonage before blending. This approach is very much in the ‘grower’ style and adds a lovely savoury, nutty complexity to the otherwise bright fruit and acid. A further 5 years en tirage only adds more layers of textural interest, bringing pastry and nutty characters into the mix. Time is a wonderful thing with sparkling. A little bit of dosage at disgorging tempers the acid a bit but overall the wine is dry.
This is a sparkling which can be enjoyed cold and as an aperitif, but we prefer to drink it slightly warmer, in a larger glass and once the bubbles have dissipated a bit.
Winemaking
- Hand picked into 10kg baskets.
- 30% Pinot Noir, 70% Chardonnay.
- 2018 fruit chilled overnight then pressed cold.
- Long, slow, gentle press cycle, extracting approximately 525L juice per tonne of fruit.
- Settled overnight in tank then racked to barrel.
- Allowed to warm naturally before wild yeast fermentation kicking off spontaneously.
- Fermentation in old French oak barriques with lees stirring every few weeks for 12 months.
- Blended in tank with 30% museum base wine and allowed further elevage for 6 months.
- Tiraged June 2019.
- 5 years en tirage before disgorging late 2025.
- Dosed with of liqueur at 2g/L.
- 613 bottles made
COLOUR – Pale yellow and straw.
NOSE – Lovely strong brioche and pastry characters intertwined with hazelnut. There’s a freshness to the fruit – citrus, ripe pear and red apple and a hint of white strawberries. Then other complexities like bruised apple, water-crackers and some minerality.
PALATE – A lively acid line runs from start to finish which is tingly but not sharp. Saline and biscuity, it’s got minerality and drive. There’s a bit of nougat and praline also. Mid-palate comes from stone-fruit, honeysuckle and strawberry characters, a bit of apple. The finish returns to savoury with a lovely nutty aspect of hazelnuts and walnuts. Dry and precise.
