Crittenden Estate Pinocchio 2006 Dolcetto

Fruit

A single vineyard in Great Western in Western Victoria.

Harvest

Mid March 2006.

Winemaking

The de-stemmed and crushed grapes were pumped to a closed 5000 litre stainless steel fermenter where the “must” (juice and skins) were inoculated with an aroma enhancing strain of rehydrated yeast. The fermenting wine was regularly “pumped over” the cap of skins that forms naturally during ferment. This process extracts colour and flavour from the skins and leaches those desirable phenolics into the wine. The ferment lasted for five days and at dryness, ie when all the sugar had fermented into alcohol, the wine was pumped to older 500 litre hogsheads for maturation. Although stored in oak, no oak character is intended, hence the use of older barrels. In December of the vintage year, 2006, the wine was assembled in readiness for bottling later that month. A total malolactic conversion has taken place and sulphur dioxide was added as a preservative and anti-oxidant.

Bottling

January 2007. Sealed under screw cap.

Technical information

Alc. Vol.13%

Residual sugar: <2gms per litre (dry)

Ph: 3.38

Total acidity: 6.9 grams per litre

Free sulphur dioxide at bottling: 32ppm

Tasting notes

If you are invited to lunch with a Piemontese (North West Italy) winemaker you will invariably be served a Dolcetto. The big guns, Nebbiolo and Barbera, are saved for dinner that night. This is fitting as Dolcetto expresses all that is fresh, lively and juicy in a lighter style red wine. As the tannins are quite low and the alcohol never too high it is suitable for consumption at lunch. The aromas in this Dolcetto are quite beguiling and remind me of damson plums and cherries with a touch of aniseed. The palate is long and racy with a cleansing acidity; all in all a very refreshing wine. Enjoy in moderation with lots of different pasta styles.

Cellaring

Enjoy now or over the next three years.