The Mentors Petit Verdot 2019

This intense, ruby-red wine is concentrated and leads on the nose with perfume notes, cranberries and sweet spice followed by black olives and aniseed. The palate is rich and juicy with plums and dark cherries. The grippy tannin structure is well integrated and delivers an intense, lasting finish.

The 2019 season showed great promise with improved winter rains. However, variable weather conditions, with continuous temperature fluctuations, resulted in inconsistent bud break, uneven flowering and set. Followed by slow and uneven ripening. Reds were most affected and overall yields were down. White varieties, except for the lower yields on Sauvignon Blanc, were as expected. The challenges are not without rewards: whites are bright and flavourful with good aromatics. Reds have soft tannins with rich fruit and generosity.

Grapes were harvested optimally ripe and hand sorted in the cellar to ensure only the best fruit is used for fermentation. After two days of cold maceration the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. Alcoholic fermentation lasted approximately six days and during this time was pumped over every five hours. Wine was racked off the skins, settled and transferred to barrels where malolactic fermentation took place for three weeks. The wine was then racked and cleaned, and returned to barrels. After 12 months, the best wines were selected to mature for an additional six months. In total during the 18-month maturation period the wine was racked twice. This wine is truly about selecting the best-of-the-best.

The wine was matured for 18 months in French oak barrels of which 70% was first-fill.

Rich and juicy, the wine is best paired with hearty red meats and aged cheese.