The wine was made reductively, excluding as much air during the winemaking process as possible. The full-flavored juice was aged on the lees, and given seven months wood contact to add complexity and flavor. It is proving to be a wine with lots of potential and Longridge is striving to uncover the full extent of what this grape has to offer. Full-bodied and rich with an abundance of tropical fruit flavors and a touch of lime.
Crisp acids lend attractive freshness, all of which is underscored by a subtle hint of French oak.
Harvested during the first two weeks of February 2000 at 23.5 Brix. An unusually hot, dry winter and summer. Temperate conditions at the outset led to exceptional warmth prior to harvest. The grapes ripened fully, while retaining great fruit flavors, good structure and a crisp edge. Grapes were destemmed and crushed, given 3 to 4 hours skin contact and thereafter fermented in stainless steel tanks at 13 - 15 degrees Celsius using local yeast.