2017 Kalleske Plenarius

GROWING SEASON

Vintage 2017 was stunning. The vines got off to a fantastic start with a wetter than average Winter and mild Spring. Summer brought typically average warm conditions with some excellent rainfall, twice the average. This kept the vines in superb condition for steady ripening into Autumn which remained dry with warm sunny days and cool nights. Yields from 2017 are good and quality is exceptional.

VINEYARD

Plenarius is from a single vineyard of Viognier on the Kalleske property at Moppa. The vines are low yielding and soil is shallow sand with clay subsoil.

WINEMAKING

The grapes were harvested in the cool of the night on March 15th. They were then destemmed to an open top fermenter. It was treated like a red wine with hand pump-overs morning and night to circulate the fermenting juice through the skins extracting flavour and subtle tannin. The must was entirely wild fermented with absolutely no additions. The wine was on skins for 7 days with ferment temperatures ranging from 21 to 28 degrees Celsius. At dryness the must was drained and the wine was filled to seasoned French oak hogsheads. It underwent natural malolactic fermentation in barrel and was matured for 10 months on lees prior to racking for bottling with zero additions, bottling as 100% grapes.

TASTING NOTES

Plenarius 2017 is a fascinating honey copper colour with orange hues.

Extremely aromatic, it bursts alive with invitingly funky smells of ginger, marmalade, jasmine blossom, fresh lemongrass and spice.

These enticing aromas lead to an equally interesting and evocative palate. It’s amazingly textural. Initially soft and rounded with honey and apricot fruit sweetness it transitions to some well-balanced phenolics adding pleasant grip augmented with bright natural acidity. This complex wine then further evolves to display glycerol richness adding a silky mouthfeel. Extremely long to finish, the dichotomy of phenolic grip with plush glycerol and rich fruit ensures the intrigue of this wine continues lingering through the end.

Overall this is an enjoyable and enthralling wine. A complex mesh of aromas, flavours and textures providing a provocative and enchanting drink.

(SKU: KA_PLN_17)