Casas Del Bosque Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2012
Ruby red in colour. On the nose intense aromas of red plum, bramble and cedar dominate with just a hint of nutmeg. In the mouth black cherry, allspice and a touch of leather are all in evidence. A well integrated oak backbone is backed-up by abundant, well-rounded tannins imparting excellent structure and length.
90 pts Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar (JR)
Bright ruby. Smoky cherry and blackberry on the nose, with white pepper and allspice nuances adding lift and complexity. Shows very good clarity and a seamless quality on the palate, offering gently sweet dark berry and floral pastille flavors and a touch of candied licorice. Closes on a spicy note, with an echo of smokiness and dusty, gently gripping tannins. This wine benefits quite a bit from aeration, gaining in depth and dark fruit character.
89 pts Wine Spectator 5/31/14
A medium-bodied red, offering lip-smacking flavors of juicy red berry, currant and cherry that are fresh and well-spiced. This is built on a lithe frame, with a finish filled with appealing forest floor notes. Drink now through 2016. 500 cases made.
n arrival at the winery all grapes were first subjected to a whole cluster selection. This was followed by destemming (without crushing) and then an individual berry selection before being gravity fed to small open-top tanks. A 8 day cold soak (at 5ºC/41ºF) ensued after which time the must was warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts (Assmanhaussen and RC212) and fermented during 18 days with temperatures peaking at 28ºC/82ºF. During fermentation the vats were hand-plunged twice daily in order to extract the ideal amount of tannin and colour. Following the completion of fermentation the wine was drained off (after a total maceration time of 26 days) and put to barrel. The wine was aged for a total of 11 months in French oak barrels (25% of which were new, and 75% of which were second and third use) before being bottled without filtration.
Harvest: Harvest was carried out by hand between April 10th and 18th, 2012.
Vineyard: All fruit was sourced from our own vineyard – located within the coolest, westernmost reaches of the Casablanca Valley. Sourced from 10 to 13 year old hillside blocks planted with the “Valdivieso” field selection on a red clay mixed with decomposed granite. The blocks used in this blended were cropped at an average of 4.5 tonnes per hectare (1.8t/acre).