Brash Higgins 2017 ‘MATO’ Mataro

Our second straight Mataro from the neighbouring “Lennon Vineyard”. We’ve planted a small playground of vines on this 3 acre block; one-third being to Mataro, the other two-thirds to Cinsault and Carignan. We picked the Mataro spot on before it became too big, placed it in an open fermenter with plenty of whole bunches intact. This wine is a little wild, with lovely tannins, and gorgeous aromas tar, forest berries, black peppercorn and other dry spices. We held it back for 3 years to develop these characteristics and let the tannins loosen up just a hair. The purity and focus of this wine is something else we’re quite proud of.

Review:
“This is gently developed and leathery, and toasty with it, liquorice-like notes. There are dark berry and ferrous-like notes, indeed they are the main drivers, with florals too coming through as it breathes. This is complex, solid and drying at once; as contradictory as that might sound.” 93pts, Campbell Mattinson, Wine Front
 

Additional information
Harvest date: March 20, 2017 Hand picked
Vineyard: Lennon Vnyd
Grower: Michael Lennon
Viticulture: Sustainable
Geology: Red mottled clay over limestone
Irrigation: Drip
Altitude: 85 metres above sea level
Planted: Grafted to Semillon rootstock in 2013
Fermenter type: open one ton, 50% whole bunch
Time in oak: 17 months
Oak origin: French
Oak age: 4 to 10 year old
Bottling date: October 23, 2018
Filtration: Coarse
Closure: Stelvin +
pH 3.63, TA 6.3 g/l, alc 13.7%

90 Dozen

Price: $39 per bottle