VINE VALE - BAROSSA VALLEY
Introducing our 2020 Mencía - same wine, beautiful new label.
Scores and Reviews
92 POINTS - MIKE BENNIE, THE WINE FRONT
“Mencía from Vine Vale, Barossa Valley. Smells like a cherry Danish pastry! Slippery textured, juicy and bright, cherry juice, cranberry, a web of gentle tannins, lots of cool acidity and a sprinkle of green herbs. I like the vibe here, it feels great to drink. Good energy.”
The Wine
Lifted and aromatic the nose shows raspberry and tea leaves with floral notes of rosewater and Turkish Delight. The palate is fleshy and lush, with fine tannings and a beetroot earthy character.
Ready to drink at release or cellar to 2025 (possibly beyond).
Suggested serving temperature 16-17C
Alcohol - 13.0% alc/vol
Sugar/GF - Dry
Released – 14th May 2021
The Winemaking
Harvested 6th March 2020.
Hand-made at CRFT Carey Gully winery.
100% Barossa Valley Mencía grapes, hand-picked.
Wild natural 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 10 months in 100% French oak, 45% 1yo old, 55% older oak.
Bottled February 2021. 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 onwards.
Planted - 2012 (half grafted, half planted on own roots)
Soil - Deep sandy loam topsoil, over deep red clay subsoil.
Map -34.495745, 139.010397
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.