Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2020

Description

• French oak
• Blueberry
• Dark chocolate
• Velvety texture

This full bodied Merlot sourced from the esteemed Gimblett Gravels is opulent with plum, blueberry and boysenberry fruits with dark chocolate and toasty oak notes.  Velvety textured with a hint of leather.

The grapes for this generous wine were grown in the stony soils of the prestigious Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District, on low yielding closely-spaced vines.

Sourced from two proclaimed sites, the fruit was picked without duress thanks to excellent sunny weather over harvest enabling unpressured picking decisions based solely on when each parcel had reached optimum ripeness and condition. Harvesting occurred on the 14th of March.

The grapes were gently crushed, allowing some whole berries to remain intact, with the resulting must then transferred into open-top fermenters for a 4-day cold soak. Each vineyard parcel was kept separate. Fermentation proceeded with daily air rummage of the cap for colour, flavour and fine tannin extraction. The resulting wines were racked once and aged for 15 months in quality French oak 300L hogsheads (25% new wood).  After rigorous blending trials to achieve the precise balance and flavour, the wine was lightly fined, filtered and bottled on the 3rd September 2021.

Food Pairing: This wine can be enjoyed with Venison, plum sauce and purple potatoes.