The Petit Verdot grape variety has been with us since 1999. Through traditionally very good connections with the Laimburg Teaching and Research Institute in South Tyrol, we came to this almost mystical variety. At that time, it was planted in the clay-rich site of Ruster Oberes Gemärk. Very, very late ripening - three weeks after Cabernets. Will become quite relevant as vines age and climate change continues.
Neat purple, with cherry rim and unmistakable tears, deep aromatics of coriander seed and leaf, the mint mates with the ivy from the shade, then comes the freshly sharpened graphite lead, game + ink, then ink + game, dark chocolate notes, maybe a hint of the Lebanon cedar, picks up considerably with air. Dry, dark and deep, juicy acidity support without being too edgy, tough tannins, tightly layered and finely grained, long and sustaining and carried by the extract. Those who understand Cabernets also understand their cousin.
Pairing
Dry aged - you name it, pot roast with coffee/chipotle rub, gnocchi with Sriracha sauce, mountain cheese fondue with everything, reduced onion soup with smoked meat, greave dumplings, blood sausage burger with red cole slaw, stew of pot barley with apple-smoked bacon, farmer's bread with wild duck rilettes and cranberries, bison dim sum and porcini mushroom powder, the roasted leek with the roasted calf's liver, served with rosemary rice. For organized fun in blind tastings, to demonstrate what is a meaningful long-term experiment.
Making
Harvest at the end of October 2020 by hand in small boxes. Destemming, open maceration with frequent submersion, gentle pressing, malolactic fermentation, aeging in 300 l barrels used several times.
