Verdelho 2008

---

Verdelho is a Portugese variety made famous on the island of Mouvedra where the wine is heated in large cauldrons to produce a caramilised wine with intense flavour.
The variety grows very well in the Mediterranean like climate of the Swan Valley where it is perhaps the Valley’s best known wine. It is a versatile grape able to produce a wide variety of wine styles from table wine to a fortified dessert wine.
RiverBank Estate currently produces four styles – a dry table wine, a light mildly sweet style [Jailbird White], a sweet wine [Classic Sweet White] and a fortified [yet to be released]. The 2008 Verdelho is a dry table wine.
Picked at 13.6 Beaume and a pH of 3.5 & a titratable acidity of 7.5g/L, the fruit was ripe and full of flavour. Harvested by hand, the grapes were destemmed and crushed prior to gentle pressing in an air bag press. The juice was fermented with an aromatic commercial yeast strain at 18’C. Following fermentation sulphur dioxide was added [as a preservative and anti oxidant] in addition to bentonite and milk powder [as fining agents – to clarify the wine and remove protein which may produce a sediment or haze in the wine]. The wine was then cold stabilized to remove excess tartarate [wine diamonds] prior to filtering then bottling.
The wine has intense flavor of melon & bananas which are complemented on the palate by crisp acidity to give a pleasing and lengthy mouth feel and a lingering after taste.
A good food wine which however may be enjoyed on its own at RiverBank overlooking the vineyard listening to live jazz on a Saturday afternoon.

Alcohol content 13%