Gnadenfrei White 2021
$140.00
Pale straw in colour. The nose shows immense complexity but in a gentle, elegant, almost mysterious way. Nothing is screaming, this is a wine of poise. There is a solft nuttiness coming through first, reminiscent of toasted almonds. Fruit ranges from white to tropical. It opens up in the glass to reveal infinite layers, taking one through an emotion evoking journey.
Gnadenfrei North brings together ancient soils, cosmic forces and native life.
Tsharke Gnadenfrei White 2021
Wine Details
Vintage: 2021
Vineyard: Gnadenfrei / Marananga
Variety: 100% Grenache Blanc
Alcohol: 13.5% Abv
pH: 3.20
Titratable Acidity: 5.6 g/L
Taste Profile
Pale straw in colour. The nose shows immense complexity but in a gentle, elegant, almost mysterious way. Nothing is screaming, this is a wine of poise. There is a solft nuttiness coming through first, reminiscent of toasted almonds. Fruit ranges from white to tropical. It opens up in the glass to reveal infinite layers, taking one through an emotion evoking journey.
Irresistible while young, this Grenache blend will age and evolve for many years. Decant and serve in a large glass.
Vintage Notes
Deep soaking winter rains that trickled into spring provided a spectacular start to the growing season.
The moist soils minimised the threat of frosts, followed with a mild spring at bud break made for a promising start to an incredible vintage. Despite its dryness, the growing season was relatively mild. Warm days, cool nights and little to no disease pressure gave rise to fruit rich in flavour and naturally high acid, all with relatively modest sugar levels.
The wines produced from 2021 will drink well young and many, if allowed, will cellar well to remind us of the great vintage. One of the best vintages in the recent decade.
Winemaking
The two halves of the block were picked at different stages, two weeks apart.
The early picked component was pressed, cold settled for 48hours, reacked and inoculated, to ferment slowly at cold temperatures over three weeks. The later picked fruit was destemmed and crushed into the press. The juice was left to settle and 4C for three days, before being racked into a new tank, on top of its skins and stalks.
Fermentation was long and cold, and the skins and stalks were removed before their textural and flavour properties started to dominate the wine's profile. After a month the two wines, now dry, were blended and transfer to terracotta amphorae, on full lees. Eight months of sur lie aging and weekly batonnage gave the wine a richer mouthfeel and texture.
The wine was bottled in January, after being racked and filtered, and then aged for a further eight months in bottle before its release.
Planted on Gnadenfrei North, the vineyard is nestled in a tight valley between two native vegetation scrubs. The site is relatively cool, an effect imposed by the native vegetation surrounding the vineyard. This unique mesoclimate helps retain the vineyards natural acidity. The vines are planted on an easterly facing aspect. The topsoils are loam to sandy and relatively shallow. The underlying deep red clay is slowly permeable. The vineyard has an abundance of wildlife and is home to a pair of Brown Falcons that nest in an old blue gum at the edge of the vineyard.
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