2007 The Derelict Vineyard

© George Haddon

Click here for large view

Harvest Dates:
2 to 31 March
Oak Maturation:
12 months in new and old
French & American oak barriques
Alcohol by Vol:
14.5%
Titratable Acid: 
7.0 g/L
pH:
3.39
Bottling Date: 
24 April 2008
Chief Winemaker:
Chester d’Arenberg Osborn
Senior Winemakers:
Jack Walton

Other Vintages

"A full, red-fruited grenache, this races from bright strawberry to darker tones of pomegranate. It's tart, with a sandy texture to the tannins that lends the wine firm grip. From the fruit of bush vines that had gone untended for years, rejuvenated for this earthy blend of old vineyards."

At a time when Grenache was considered un-fashionable Chester Osborn maintained a vigilant search for old vine McLaren Vale Grenache vineyards, showing faith in a variety that has been central to d’Arenberg since the very beginning. His search unveiled a number of old bush vine and poorly maintained trellised vineyards in various states of disrepair. Many of these ‘derelict’ vineyards were overgrown with native grasses and bracken ferns and weren’t being used for grape production—one was even being used to graze horses! Restoring these vineyards has been a time consuming labour of love, and while they still have a slightly dishevelled appearance they are back producing very low yields of exceptional fruit.

The first sniff gives an indication that this is a Grenache of serious depth and structure. Dark cherry and plum stone are the dominate fruit characters with a lovely touch of lavender and violets overlaying cinnamon and nutmeg.

The palate moves from varietal fruit flavours and licorice to savoury elements of charred meats, dried herbs and dark chocolate. The oak influence is subtle and well integrated with charming powdery grippy tannins providing the finish with floral characters lingering.

Tight in its youth with darker elements brooding in the background waiting to emerge decanting will help this wine open up but ultimately it deserves to be cellared for a decade or more.

Owing largely to drought and a warm start to Summer, the 2007 vintage started extremely early. These conditions caused short shoot length and reduced berry and bunch sizes.

In late January a 50mm down pour caused some damage to the ripening fruit but was a welcome relief for many of the dry grown vineyards that contribute to The Derelict Vineyard Grenache.

Moderately warm weather followed to ripen the fruit in low stress conditions that resulted in good flavour concentration and excellent levels of natural acidity.

Walking the vineyard rows and tasting grapes, Chester Osborn classifies and determines the ideal picking time for each individual vineyard.

Small batches are crushed in the Demoisy open-mouthed, rubber toothed crusher and then transferred to five-tonne headed-down open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final
blending.

Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation. When tannin extraction is just right the wine is
basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of new and old French and old American oak barriques to complete primary and secondary fermentation. The barrel fermented component is aged on lees to keep the wine fresh while also reducing the oak influence. There is no racking until final blending.

Chester and the winemaking team undertake an extensive barrel tasting process to determine the final blend. The Derelict Vineyard does not undertake fining or filtration prior to bottling.

Leave your own tasting note

First Name*

Email (for administration purposes only - not published)*

Vintage*

Comment*


Enter the value of the maths quiz: