Review
91 POINTS - CAMPBELL MATTINSON (THE WINE FRONT)
CRFT wines always keep things interesting.
This has drinkability written all over it but there’s a bit more to it than that. It’s fruit-driven, soft and berried, maybe a bit floral too, but tea leaf, game and sweet-earthen-root-vegetable characters add that something extra. In fact it tastes like beetroot-at-the-peak-of-its-powers. It’s as delightful as it is delicious. Personally I would drink it now/young but it may well age. Drink : 2020 - 2024+
The Wine
Lifted and aromatic the nose shows blackcurrant, pomegranate and blackberry jam, with secondary characters of beetroot, chocolate bullets and leather polish. Tea leaf and dried prune add to the complexity. Super juicy palate bursting with plush concentrated red fruit and smooth supple tannins.
A beautiful wine to drink right now or watch it age and develop over the coming few years.
Ready to drink at release or cellar for up to 5 years (possibly beyond!).
Suggested serving temperature 16-17C
Alcohol - 13.5% alc/vol
Sugar/GF - Dry
RRP - $31
Released - April 2020
The Winemaking
Harvested 5th March 2019. 100% Barossa Valley Mencía grapes, hand-picked.
Hand-made by Candice and Frewin at their winery in Carey Gully.
Wild fermented in an open-top tank, gentle hand plunge only, 10 days on skins, then pressed to barrel for malolactic fermentation and maturation.
Matured for 9 months in 100% French oak, 25% 1yo old, 75% older oak.
Bottled December 2019, 104 dozen produced. Vegan friendly.
The Vineyard
The Schmidt family own and farm the Mencía vines at Vine Vale in the Barossa Valley.
Organically farmed (uncertified) from 2018/2019 growing season.
Planted - 2012 (half grafted, half planted on own roots)
Soil - Deep sandy loam topsoil, over deep red clay subsoil.
Mencía – About the variety
Mencía (pronounced MEN-cee-ah or MEN-thee-ah) is a Spanish native grown mostly in the northwestern corner of Spain and if you enjoy Pinot Noir you should definitely give this a go!
The variety often shows lifted aromatics of red fruit, floral notes and earthy tones. It can be medium to full bodied and suits savoury red meat dishes, poultry or wild game, and vegetarian dishes such as mushroom risotto. In Australia, there’s just a tiny handful of plantings and producers, with the variety found in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley as well as the Pyrenees Wine Region in Victoria and Orange in New South Wales. Australian Mencía will be an exciting variety to watch over the coming decades as our vines age and as we learn how to grow Mencía in our climate.
In 2019 our second planting of Mencía was established at the Rohrlach Vineyard in the Barossa Valley and we look forward to producing our second single vineyard Mencía in the future.