Nose
The 2012 Somerston Stornoway is our fourth release. Each vintage seems to top the previous one. This right bank inspired wine jumps out of the glass with expressive aromatics of blueberry, espresso, and oak spice.
Palate
The wine is rich and concentrated, yet balanced and elegant. The palate is focused with dark red fruits, spice and blueberry. The balanced acid profile builds up to a firm and somewhat reluctant finish that will age and develop over the next 20 years.
Winemaking
The Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot were hand picked and delivered to the winery. The grapes were destemmed and sorted, then pumped into tanks for a 5 day cold soak at 50 degrees. When the fermenta- tion began, we pumped the tank over twice per day. The native yeast fermen- tation lasted for 14 days. The free run was drained from the tank overnight.
Aging
The wine was barreled down into 65% new French oak; the balance was put into once used French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally in the barrel. The wine was aged for 24 months and bottled unfiltered.
