2018, while a great season, provided some challenges for our barrel-fermented rosé. But like the phoenix it has risen from the ashes of its winemakers’ anxiety and is epic in its drinkability. The fruit comes from a single site, the Lentondelle Vineyard in the Carbanup sub-region of Margaret River. It’s a flat, warm site with fertile, red sandy soils. The grapes were hand-harvested on 2nd April. The fruit exhibited fine flavours at moderate sugar levels with high levels of natural acidity. After chilling, the fruit was whole bunch-pressed directly to old oak for fermentation. The juice was fractionated into free-run and pressings, and this year only the finer free-run fraction was used in the final blend. Fermentation was wild and no additions were made to this wine at all. This usually takes around three weeks; after 10 weeks and a partial stress-induced winemaker breakdown the fermentation finished! This wine was then matured for a further two weeks in oak unsulphured on gross lees. It was emptied from barrel, settled, filtered, sulphured and bottled on 13th July.
We’re extremely happy and relieved at this delicious resultant wine. The texture and acid structure are highlights in what is likely a more approachable and fruit forward release of Nocturne rosé. As always, best drunk from magnum, on a boat, wearing white…. It’s a pale salmon dream. – Alana & Julian Langworthy