2018 Descendants Liegeois Dupont - Syrah
Tasting notes
Dark red purple color. Tart earthy fruit, blueberry muffins, toasted nuts, and cinnamon raisin bread. A lot of spice and sweet cocoa, coffee, earthy red fruits with a hint of graham cracker, black pepper and dried herbs. There is so much going on in this make sure you have the time to really savor it. Vibrant and creamy on the palate with flavors of cranberry, chocolate and buttery pastry which combine well with the structured, precise and long finish. Savor this wine before, during and after dinner and you’ll be delighted at how is morphs with each sip.
Grapes are from Les Gosses Vineyard, which is in the Red Mountain AVA, and has both the Joseph Phelps and Tablas Creek clones. The wine was destemmed and partially crushed into stainless steel fermenters where it was pumped over twice daily until desired tannin extraction was achieved. It was then pressed to barrels where it underwent malo-lactic fermentation, then racked off lees and 100% barrel aged in 52% new oak and puncheons (48% neutral oak) for 19 months. The new oak and puncheons consisted of 48% American and 52% French.
Harvest: The 2017-2018 winter was extremely mild, fairly dry and quite the opposite of the snow and ice ravaged winter we saw the year before. This mild winter really tricked the vines and other early Spring bud pushing plants to sprout out quickly. Hedges’ estate vineyards were pruned early (beginning in late January) in anticipation for this early bud break and the vines really responded well. We added a few more Biodynamic practices into the mix, such as home brewed horsetail tea spray, which helped us escape some mildew pressure in June. The heat of summer and long sunny days advanced ripening, but the maturation period of early September and October was mild which made for a harvest that you could pick fruit at a slow and steady pace. Overall the 2018 vintage is going to be a good one!
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Varietal | Syrah |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Syrah |
| Appellation | Red Mountain |
| Vineyard | Les Gosses |
| Acid | 5.6 g/L |
| PH | 3.92 |
| Aging | This |
| Alcohol | 14.40% |
| Wine Style | Syrah |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 03/11/2019 |
| Cases Produced | 6 pack cases, 750ml bottles |
