2017 Hemera Estate Tempranillo

The Tempranillo vines were planted in 2003 on brown loam with heavy clay subsoil with a North-South orientation. The two different clones we planted have very different ripening times, generally being picked two weeks apart, each at optimal ripeness. For this vintage the fruit was picked on the 24th February and the2nd March.Picked early to retain pure fruit vibrancy, our two clones of Tempranillo are brought into the winery separately, destemmed and crushed into open top fermenters where daily pump-overs provide softer tannin extraction. Toward the conclusion of the primary fermentation the wine is drained and then pressed to barrel. This wine is very much in the Spanish ‘crianza’ style with shorter maturation in seasoned French and American oak barrels for 10 months. Careful barrel selection takes place before the wine is blended. The wine is neither fined nor filtered.