2007 Zinfandel

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Probably originating in Croatia, Zinfandel has found its home in the United States where it is the country’s most popular red grape variety. There are only small plantings of Zinfandel in Australia. RiverBank’s Zinfandel came from a small planting in the original Waldeck Vineyard in the Swan Valley.
It is a difficult variety to grow being subject to bunch rot because it has large tight bunches. The vines are grown on a VSP [vertical shoot positioned] trellis system which aids mechanization and allows for better air circulation in the canopy which helps control fungal diseases. The vines are dripper irrigated from a bore.
Spraying is principally with copper and sulphur based sprays to control powdery mildew. We try to avoid using systemic fungicides and do not use insecticides.
The grapes were picked on the 24th of February at a Beaume of 11.6 and a pH of 3.35 Fermentation was undertaken with a commercial yeast strain followed by a malo lactic fermentation. The latter converts the harsh malic acid to lactic acid to give a softer mouth feel to the wine.
The resultant wine was then aged for 24 months in a mixture of French and American oak casks. It has a vibrant light red colour with floral and spicy aroma and taste, sharp acid and soft tannins to give a full and lengthy mouth feel.
Lightly fined with egg white [to remove any bitter tannins] the wine was filtered with a cross flow filter prior to bottling.
Sealed with a screw cap the wine will retain it’s youthfulness for some years while continuing to mature in the bottle.

Alcohol content 12.5%