Cellar Release - Seifried Zweigelt 2014

Vineyard: Seifried Brightwater Vineyard
Sugar at Harvest: 23.6°Brix
Date of Harvest: 15 April 2014
pH of Wine: 3.54
T.A of Wine: 5.8g/L
Suitable for Vegetarians
Suitable for Vegans

The Brightwater vines are grown in an extremely stony area of the vineyard, where water and nutrient levels are low. This helps us to restrict the plants vigour and to crop at low levels.

Our Brightwater Vineyard is situated 15km from the coast and is sheltered from the south by the Richmond ranges. The “soil” is a combination of rocks and boulders, which is very hard on the farm equipment, but vital for holding the warmth of Nelson’s sun and for ripening the Zweigelt grapes.

The Zweigelt is a red grape variety originating in Hermann’s homeland of Austria - and is a favourite at Seifried family gatherings. Seifried has just 11 rows, totalling less than one hectare of Zweigelt planted at our Brightwater Vineyard.

Our vines were fifteen years old when the fruit for the 2014 was picked - full round berries and bunches, with rich purple skin and intense fruit flavours.

The grapes were de-stemmed and fermented on their skins, and hand plunged twice times a day. Following fermentation, the wine was gently pressed from the skins and transferred to a mixture of new and three year old French oak barriques. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and remained in barrel for 12 months. The wine was racked from the barrel in April 2015 and bottled in June 2015.