Casas del Bosque Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2013
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.
88 pts Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of brambly plum and raspberry set up a palate with ripe flavors of black cherry and nutmeg. A baking-spice character carries onto the finish, which turns more soft and candied as it wraps up.
On 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.
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).
