Touriga Nacional 2018
Tasting Notes
On the nose the Touriga has a hint of musk and red fruit and a hint of florals. The wine is a bright medium weight style, with red fruit and black cherry on the palate. It finishes with great length too
Vintage
We had above average winter rainfall and although we had a dry June, we recorded decent falls in July and August. Below average rainfall was recorded in spring, and we experienced some warm spring nights. Summer rain tally was also below average despite a wet December. McLaren Vale experienced warm a warm Autumn ripening period with low rainfall. Overall vintage in McLaren Vale produced wine of excellent quality and while total tonnages were down for the season, compared to a wet and fertile 2017, the reports from winemakers on wine quality has been almost universally positive.
Winemaking
This is the fourth Battle of Bosworth Touriga and we are finding our way very nicely with this variety, which we grafted onto 25 year-old Shiraz vines ten years ago. We pick early to capture the wonderful florals which you find at a lower Beaumé. If we wanted to make a Port (which Joch has, it is sitting in a barrel in some dark recess in the cellar waiting to be bottled) we would pick the Touriga much later at 14-15deg Beaumé. We pick and ferment the grapes in open fermenters and the wine spends no time in oak- we want fresh lively and bright, which is what we get, pretty much.
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Vineyards: Denton's
Picking Date: 5th and 6th March 2018
Bottling Date: 9th November 2018
Alc/Vol: 13.5%